Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Electrification

Medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification is a promising and emerging opportunity to reduce emissions, improve health, and save money. EV Hub has a variety of content on electric trucks and buses including public funding, private investment, and electric utility support for electric trucks and buses.

Statistics on this page are updated on a quarterly basis.

This page was last updated on April 1, 2022.

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Key Findings from Our Research

  • Increasing investment from the private sector continues to expand the range of models available and encourage innovation in the market.

  • Greater public and electric utility investment is still needed to advance commercialization and push new technologies beyond the pilot phase.

  • 62 percent of the $4 billion in public investment for transportation electrification tracked by the EV Hub has gone towards electric trucks and buses.

  • An increasing number of electric utilities are offering reduced off-peak charging rates for electric bus and truck fleet operators.

  • Deployment for all major vehicle categories is increasing. Current deployment:

    • Electric Transit Buses: 3,533
    • Electric School Buses: 1,738
    • Electric Trucks: 1,215
  • The total cost of ownership and competitiveness of these vehicles varies by category and use. Electric transit buses can already cost less on a lifetime basis than diesel buses without subsidies. The following are estimates for the year in which the electric models are expected to reach price parity with diesel models:

    • Electric Transit Buses: 2020
    • Electric School Buses: 2025-2030
    • Electric Trucks: 2025

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Public and Private Investment

Public and private investment in electric trucks and buses is on the rise. See below for key stats on public, private, and utility investments in medium- and heavy-duty electrification through March 2022. The business case for electric buses and trucks is improving and private investment in the sector is increasing. Public funding will remain essential, however, for increased deployment of electric buses and trucks in the near term. Electric utilities will also play a major role in supporting the deployment of electric trucks and buses, primarily through charging infrastructure investment.

Public Funding

  • VW Settlement awards account for 22% of all public funding for electric trucks and buses 

  • Electric transit buses funding is dominated by the Federal Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (Low-No), which accounts for 50% of the funding for this vehicle category.

  • Electric school buses continue to see large increases in funding, increasing from $42 million at the end of 2018 to $480 million through the end of 2021

Public Funding in Electric Trucks in Buses (million $)

This chart draws on data from the State Policy Dashboard. Units are represented in million dollars. 

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Electric Transit Bus Funding
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Electric School Bus Funding
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Electric Truck Funding

Voucher Programs in California, New York, and New Jersey

CA, NY, and NJ are the only states to offer recurring rebates for electric buses and trucks. Funding awarded or available through the three programs through March 2022:
  • California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP): $1 billion
  • New York Truck Voucher Incentive Program (NYTVIP): $58 million
  • New Jersey Zero Emission Incentive Program (ZIP): $44.25 million

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Global Private Investment

  • Private investment announcements in electric trucks and buses surges in late 2020 and early 2021.

  • Electric trucks lead other vehicle categories in terms of announced investment, accounting for at least $13 billion of the private funding recorded in the EV Hub.

  • Both startups and established manufacturers commit new investment for electric trucks and buses in 2021. 

Global Private Investment in Electric Trucks and Buses

This chart draws on data from the Global Private Investment Dashboard. This includes funding outside of the United States. 

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Global Investment in Electric Buses and Trucks
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Companies Investing in Electric Buses and Trucks
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Percentage of Investment in U.S.

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Electric Utility Investment

  • Electric utility programs with a focus on electric truck and bus electrification have an 80% approval rating.

  • 75% of all approved investment including a focus on electric trucks and buses comes from three major California utilities: Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric.

  • Of the three major vehicle categories, electric utilities are investing more the most money in electric trucks. The estimated funding breakdown is as follows:

    • Electric transit buses: $267 million
    • Electric school buses: $105 million
    • Electric trucks: $220 million

    *This is based on research conducted in December 2019.

Approved

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Investment
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States
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Utilities

Filed/Pending

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Investment
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Denied/Withdrawn

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Investment
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Utilities

These data draws from the Electric Utility Filings Dashboard. The numbers above reflect programs with an electric bus and truck focus only.

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Research on Trucks and Buses

Weekly Digests on Trucks and Buses

2022-07-07T10:54:23-04:00