SB 1213 has passed the Appropriations, Transportation and Environmental Quality Committees and will now go for a Senate vote. It aims to bring down the price of electric trucks by tying state funding under the Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) to “full pricing transparency” of electric trucks by manufacturers.
Last week California Governor Gavin Newsom announced $1 billion of new funding incentives for fleets to buy electric trucks, in order to tackle deadly air pollution in California and ensure the trucking industry can transition from high diesel prices to innovative electric trucks.
But truck prices are not publicly available and evidence shows that electric truck prices remain high in the U.S. and have increased, despite falling prices in Europe.
The California legislation aims to tackle the problem and place affordability and taxpayer value for money at the heart of the transition to electric trucks.
Craig Segall, former Deputy Executive Officer and Assistant Chief Counsel of the California Air Resources Board: “Good policy is popular – it’s unanimous. Who wouldn’t want a better market for clean trucks that save drivers money? It’s great to see the California Senate leading the way on affordable climate action.”
Guillermo Ortiz, Senior Clean Vehicles Advocate at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council): “SB 1213 passed three Senate committees without a single ‘no’ vote because it puts California first — plain and simple. With Governor Newsom just committing $1 billion to accelerate clean truck adoption, this bill makes sure that money actually delivers. Pricing transparency is the tool that holds manufacturers to their promise of delivering affordable clean trucks, making public money work harder for drivers, fleets, and the broader California economy.”
Jakob Evans Senior Policy Strategist at Sierra Club California wrote to the Chair of the Senate Environmental Quality Committee in support of the bill stating: “By requiring greater disclosure of truck pricing information for vehicles receiving public incentives, SB 1213 would give state agencies the tools they need to hold manufacturers accountable for selling electric trucks in California at the prices they offer abroad, and ensure our state incentive dollars go as far as possible to provide air pollution relief for communities most impacted by diesel pollution….SB 1213 is a commonsense reform that will help ensure every dollar committed to clean trucks delivers maximum public benefit.”
Juan Roberto Madrid, GreenLatinos Sustainable Communities Program Manager said:
“Latino truck drivers are already being crushed by diesel prices that have surged over 40% and well over $7 a gallon because of Trump’s Iran war — the largest oil supply disruption in history. SB 1213 with its core pillar of fostering a competitive market through pricing transparency offers Latino truckers and small businesses owners and fleets a leg up, opens the door for them to look at comparable hybrid and zero-emission trucks”
The California legislation comes as guidelines were released for states on the data they should collect when processing funding applications for electric trucks. The guidelines – compiled by Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM, a coalition of state agencies that tackle air pollution), staff administering state electric truck incentive programs for California, Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, and the International Council on Clean Transportation – recommends that states collect suggested retail prices set by truck manufacturers, bulk price discounts and the diesel truck equivalent prices to “improve market transparency, and empower fleet consumer choice”.
The lack of transparency on truck prices limits “the availability of key transaction data in the public domain,… obstructs transparency in the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle market and makes it difficult to assess pricing trends”, the guidelines state.
