The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and its partners, including the
California Air Resources Board (CARB), San Francisco Goodwill, the Center for Transportation and the Environment, and BYD Corp., have kicked off a project to test the viability of deploying a fleet of electric delivery trucks in the region.
According to BAAQMD, 11 electric trucks in total will serve Goodwill locations in the counties of San Mateo, San Francisco and Marin. The main goal of this effort is to provide a national model for electrifying Goodwill’s entire truck fleet, while also increasing general market adoption for electric trucks and reducing both greenhouse gases and local air pollution.
“Diesel trucks are the largest source of unhealthy air pollution in the Bay Area,” says Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the BAAQMD. “Electric trucks reduce unhealthy diesel exhaust from our streets and neighborhoods, providing the region with air quality benefits and greenhouse-gas reductions.”
This $4.4 million project is funded through the state of California’s climate change-fighting cap-and-trade program and includes matching funds from the BAAQMD and an in-kind match from SF Goodwill.
Notably, the project is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.
“The future will be electric, but for Goodwill and the Bay Area, it’s here today,” says CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “These electric 100 percent zero-emission trucks are built in California and will demonstrate on a daily basis how smart investments of cap-and-trade proceeds are improving air quality – and the quality of life – throughout the state, including right here in Bay Area communities most affected by air pollution.”
“Collecting donated goods to create local jobs and take pressure off our landfills is integral to Goodwill’s mission,” says William Rogers, CEO and president of Goodwill Industries of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin. “This zero-emission fleet of 11 electric trucks will reduce local emissions, improve air quality and demonstrate Goodwill’s commitment to improving the communities we serve.”
“This deployment with Goodwill for BYD state-of-the-art battery-electric trucks will show the skeptics that zero-emission technology is reliable and ready for wide-scale use in medium- and heavy-duty trucking applications,” adds Stella Li, president of BYD Motors.
Photo courtesy of CARB.