California to Require Half of All Heavy Trucks Sold by 2035 to Be Electric 

This gives the California Air Resources Board (CARB) permission to adopt its Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation that requires manufacturers to produce and sell increasing quantities of medium and heavy duty zero-emission trucks in California.  

Under the new rules, truck manufacturers who certify Class 2b-8 chassis or complete vehicles with combustion engines must sell zero-emission trucks as an increasing percentage of their annual California sales starting in 2024.  

By 2035, zero-emission truck/chassis sales must account for 55% of Class 2b–3 truck sales, 75% of Class 4–8 straight truck sales and 40% of truck tractor sales, according to CARB. 

The emissions warranty periods will be extended for 2022 and subsequent model year on-road heavy duty diesel engines, and for those with a gross vehicle weight rating exceeding 14,000 lbs., powered by those engines. 

Under the Clean Air Act, California has broad discretion to adopt emissions requirements to meet its significant air quality challenges. It must seek waivers from the EPA for new motor vehicle emission standards, which is what was done in this case. 

Tweaks to the CARB rule are being planned to allow for certain exemptions when electric trucks are not available to meet deadlines. 

The waiver made California the first government in the world to require zero-emissions trucks. 

This move adds to the unease with the recent rulings

strengthening heavy-duty emissions standards beginning with 2027 model year vehicles and shifting all truck sales to zero-emissions by 2040. 

Following these rulings, the ATA and other trucking groups created the Clean Freight Coalition recently, to promote the industry’s progress on emissions and lobby against what some are describing as aspirational, unrealistic timelines and to advocate for “a single, achievable national standard.”