Funding is available to help public and private fleets replace operating medium-duty diesel trucks with battery-electric medium-duty trucks. The funding is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), along with the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The total eligible funding fleets may receive is approximately $75,000 per electric truck, as well as $4,000 per unit for installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for trucks operating in certain areas of the South Coast Air Basin. The total level of grant funding per truck is dependent on other State of California funding.

The funding requirements are:

• Diesel trucks must be currently in use and of model-year 1990 to 2003 with 16,001 to 26,000 lbs. GVWR (Class 5 and 6).

• Diesel trucks must be fully dismantled within 90 days of replacement.

• Replacement trucks must be a zero-emission vehicle selected from the California Air Resources Board's HVIP eligible vehicle list.

• Replacement trucks must be of the same type and similar GVWR and perform the same type of function as the replaced diesel trucks.

• Replacement trucks must primarily operate in San Bernardino, Ontario, Boyle Heights, or the port communities of San Pedro, Long Beach, and Wilmington and be registered in California.

The South Coast AQMD will provide fleets $20,000 per truck from the list of HVIP-eligible battery-electric vehicles. In addition, the South Coast AQMD will provide an incentive of up to $4,000 per unit for installation of EV charging infrastructure to support the operation of funded battery electric trucks.

Fleets may also be able to apply for a HVIP zero-emission truck voucher, managed by CARB, which range in funding from $12,000 to $45,000 for the purchase of each eligible new electric medium-duty truck. However, with the HVIP program’s additional funding for the purchase of the first three trucks, voucher levels can reach $55,000 per vehicle of HVIP funding. HVIP funding is currently exhausted, but additional funding is anticipated to become available once the next year’s program is launched.

Class 6 trucks with MY 1996-2003 diesel engines may be eligible to receive additional grant funds through the California Proposition 1B Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program.

Funding that the South Coast AQMD will provide to eligible public and private fleets to purchase these electric trucks is competitive; interested fleets must apply to the AQMD Request for Proposals solicitation #P2014-02 by Oct. 8 by 1:00 p.m. PST.

A bidder’s conference will be held on Sep. 18 at 10:00 a.m. to review the program. Bidders planning to attend the conference must notify Brian Choe (bchoe@aqmd.gov) by email on or before Sept. 13. The conference will be held at the SCAQMD headquarters in Room CC-2 at 21865 Copley Dr. in Diamond Bar, Calif.

In order to be eligible to receive the South Coast AQMD truck funding, fleets must fully disable and scrap a similar medium-duty diesel truck that performs the same functions and be the same type and similar GVWR as the truck being replaced.