Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2022 - 24

Funding, mandates fuel
commercial-vehicle electrification
Many
fleets will rely
primarily on
company-owned
chargers located in
their vehicle depots
rather than on
public chargers.
Legislators provide the impetus to electrify trucks and buses, leading to several
engineering challenges.
by Terry Costlow
G
overnment funding and electrification mandates are providing
strong tailwinds for electric vehicle (EV) suppliers. But to
optimize their transitions, fleet operators will have to analyze
many factors ranging from charging infrastructure to financing
while also determining whether to buy new vehicles or convert
internal-combustion platforms to electric drivetrains.
Strategies for leveraging government funding and creating efficient
long-term operating plans were examined by a range of industry
experts at the recent Lightning Day event hosted by Lightning
eMotors and attended by customers, investors and select media including
TOHE. Several government actions made panelists bullish
about market prospects.
" There's a perfect storm right now, with federal and state mandates
saying 'thou will electrify' and governments are providing funding
to help companies electrify, " said Nick Bettis, Lightning's marketing
director. " The legislation's the stick, and the government funding
is the carrot. "
Investing in infrastructure
While fully electric passenger cars remain a tiny fraction of the U.S. market,
government funding for heavier vehicles should drive solid growth.
The $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill passed last year provides dramatic increases
over previous support for EVs and charging stations.
" When we started [in 2004], we had around $22 million in public
funding, " said Jarrett Stoltzfus, public policy director at Proterra, a
battery systems maker. " The infrastructure funding is now $1 billion a
year for the next five years. School-bus funding is also over $1 billion
24 August 2022
per year, and there's $7.5 billion going to all the states
for charging infrastructure. "
School buses currently are a high priority at
Lightning, panel moderator Bettis noted. Their usage
pattern allows for lengthy periods of recharging. " A
school bus is the low-hanging fruit, " Bettis said. " It
goes out in the morning, can charge during the day
and then go out again in the afternoon. "
Augmenting federal funding, many states are also providing
financial support. In Colorado, Lightning's home
state, legislators tasked utility providers with helping
companies develop strategies to maximize their charging
infrastructure. That's important because many fleets will
rely primarily on company-owned chargers located in
their vehicle depots rather than on public chargers.
" The state of Colorado requires investor-owned utilities
to create an EV plan; they approved $108 million
to fund it, " said Brodie Ayers, EV fleet portfolio manager
at Xcel Energy. " We will look at your fleet and
operating needs, then help you build out your infrastructure
at low or no cost. "
Panelist Gary Van Orden, vice president at Mike
Albert Fleet Solutions, also stressed the importance of
doing extensive analysis of a fleet's charging requirements.
" Many decisions are primarily in infrastructure, "
Van Orden said. " The first thing we do is set the infrastructure
for charging. There are a lot of things that
must be considered, such as routes and terrain. "
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
LIGHTNING EMOTORS
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - August 2022
