1 Bucket-Trucks and Buses 1. Introduction 2. E-Trucks

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Bucket-Trucks and Buses By John Benson January, 2019 1. Introduction It seemed like a no-brainer. Electric utilities have a huge number of trucks (at least my home electric utility, PG&E, does). Why don't they buy electric trucks, or perhaps range- extended hybrid trucks? So I searched, and discovered, (1) they could fairly easily do this, but (2) apparently they don't. Thus this paper started to take shape. Then I saw some really important information on electric buses. I covered these fairly thoroughly in the recent paper linked below, but this news came afterward, so I will cover the new information at the end of this paper. https://www.energycentral.com/c/cp/ev-update 2. E-Trucks The first electric trucks are just starting to roll to customers right now. In subsection 2.2 below we cover those manufacturers that make medium-duty trucks (suitable for utility trucks) that have started to deliver trucks or at least have orders. Immediately below, we lay some groundwork. 2.1. Truck Classifications Sometimes it's necessary to define terms before we can discuss a subject. Since we will be talking about trucks, the first step is to review the formal classification of these vehicles.1

Truck Duty classification Weight limit Examples class (GVWR)2 Class 1 Light truck 0–6,000 pounds Dodge Dakota, Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, Class 2 Light truck 6,001–10,000 Ram 1500, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ford F-150 pounds Class 3 Medium truck 10,001–14,000 Ram 3500, GMC Sierra 3500, Ford F-350 pounds Class 4 Medium truck 14,001–16,000 Ram 4500, GMC 4500, Ford E-450, pounds Class 5 Medium truck 16,001–19,500 Ram 5500, GMC 5500, Ford F-550, Peterbilt 325, pounds International TerraStar Class 6 Medium truck 19,501–26,000 Chevrolet Kodiak C6500, Ford F-650, Peterbilt 330, pounds International Durastar, Class 7 Heavy truck 26,001–33,000 GMC C7500, Peterbilt 220 & 337, Ford F-750 pounds Class 8 Heavy truck 33,001 pounds International WorkStar, Kenworth T600, T660 & T680, Peterbilt 579 & 389 - Semi-trailer trucks fall into this category Class 9 Super-heavy / special 33,001 pounds Class 8 truck with special characteristics, International duty truck WorkStar, Western Star 6900, 6900XD or 6900TS

1 Wikipedia Article on "Truck classification", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truck_classification 2 The gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) excludes any trailers. Class 8 18-wheelers can weigh up to 80,000 lbs. (including trailer(s). 1

2.2. Manufacturers of E-Trucks BYD offers class 6 and 8 refuse trucks, class 6 step vans, class 5 and 6 general purpose trucks and class 8 truck with day-cabs in the U.S. Range of all of these except the refuse truck is 120 to 160 miles. The refuse trucks have a range of 50 miles. Daimler Mitsubishi Fuso Division, electric eCanter truck: These trucks appear to primarily be class 4 box vans. So far they have delivered a few of these to each of the following U.S. customers (links are to articles).

 J.B. Hunt Transport Services https://finance.yahoo.com/news/j-b-hunt- announces-delivery-153900895.html

 UPS https://electrek.co/2017/09/15/daimler-delivers-first-electric-trucks-to-ups/

 Wildlife Conservation Society, New York Botanical Garden, Habitat for Humanity New York City https://newatlas.com/daimler-fuso-ecanter-electric-truck/51360/ The following firms have received orders for trucks, but have not reported any deliveries. Chanje: Large orders from several companies for their V8100 class 1 panel van. https://chanje.com/press/ Motiv Power Systems builds class 4, 5 and 6 electric truck chassis. I believe these are based on Ford F-450, F-550, and F 650 chassis as they are a Ford Advanced Fuel Qualified Vehicle Modifier. They were also the first manufacturer to receive a blanket zero-emissions certification from the California Air Resources Board, or CARB, for a family of electric chassis.3 Motiv does not make a complete vehicle, but rather partners with other companies that deliver various types of custom vehicles. There may have been some deliveries from at least one of these firms: https://cleantechnica.com/2018/05/21/champion-bus-motiv-power-systems-deploy- industry-first-oem-integrated-shuttle/ Ford: No, Ford does not make any electric trucks, or even hybrids, but they do appear to have a unique program to facilitate electric (and hybrid) trucks, the Ford Advanced Fuel Qualified Vehicle Modifier4. This program seems to have initially been for Qualified Vehicle Modifiers that were building limos using Lincoln chassis, and then evolved to trucks that were being modified to use gaseous fuel (Compressed Natural Gas and Propane). Their first manufacturer that is producing electric trucks is Motiv, described in the prior paragraph. Also the Ford F-450, F-550, and F 650 trucks are frequently used (heavily modified) for electric utility service and bucket trucks, so this would seemingly be a good starting point for building electrified versions of these.

3 John O'Dell, Trucks, "Motiv Poised to Profit as Demand Grows for Electric Trucks, Buses", May, 2018, https://www.trucks.com/2018/05/30/motiv-profits-demand-electric-trucks- buses/?utm_referrer=https://www.bing.com/news/search?q=Motiv+Power+Systems+hybrid+trucks&qft=so rtbydate%3d%221%22&form=YFNR 4 Ford, Advanced Fuel Buyer's Guide, https://www.fleet.ford.com/resources/ford/general/pdf/brochures/2017/22414%202017_Advanced_Fuel%2 0_ARLSD.pdf 2

3. Future Utility Trucks In section 2 we explored what was available today to start the process of developing electric utility trucks, but will utilities do this? I'm sure that utilities can trot out some perfectly reasonable arguments as to why electric utility trucks are not practical, so this section will anticipate these and suggest a path to the future that may counter these arguments. 3.1. Initial Steps For a large utility like PG&E there are a wide variety of types of trucks – all the way from class 1 and 2 pickups (light duty) trucks with limited modifications to Class 6 and 7 medium/heavy duty trucks that are extensively modified with large and/or long-reach buckets or cranes capable of hoisting the largest apparatus into position. There are few arguments as to why at least many of the light duty trucks could not be replaced by electric trucks soon. This is especially true since:

 Electric utilities, especially PG&E, are heavily involved in EVSE (chargers) deployments, and could select applications, electric truck ranges and deployment locations to have good economics.

 At least one electric truck manufacturer (Motiv) is located in PG&E's Service Territory (as is Tesla who is planning to make both Class 8 (semi) and Class 1 and/or 2 pickup trucks). BYD is in Southern California not far from PG&E's southern service territory.

 Given the State of California goals explored in the last section of this paper, it is likely that they will also define some goals for state-regulated businesses, as they already have for utility power generation.

 PG&E has an excellent record of working with State of California to help shape the policies that impacts their businesses. I have participated in one of these proceedings – see section 3 of the paper linked below. https://www.energycentral.com/c/iu/ami-%E2%80%93-part-2-creating-demand 3.2. The Future I have a vision of the future for utility trucks (at least for utilities like PG&E). There will be many projects, prototypes, failures, and a few successes to realize this future, in perhaps 20 or 30 years, but I believe it is inevitable. Thus I will describe it below. Almost all light duty trucks will be electric, with ranges from 300 to 500 miles, depending on service. Many medium duty trucks will be electric, but most will be range-extended hybrids, using fuel-cells fueled by compressed natural gas based on biomethane. Some (or many) of these trucks will be fueled by propane, which is used extensively in rural areas. It should be noted that at some point propane will be displaced by biopropane (go through link).5

5 Renewable Propane - Biopropane Fuel, http://www.renewablepropane.com/ 3

There will be a new type of truck – we will call this a tender for now. For those without a railroad or nautical bent, among the many definitions of tender are:6

 Nautical: A vessel attendant on other vessels, especially one that ferries supplies between ship and shore.

 A railroad car attached to the rear of a locomotive and designed to carry fuel and water. This truck will be a medium-to-large duty truck that is basically a rolling electric generator (as described above for range-extended hybrids). It will be used for:

 Recharging other trucks

 Supplementing the electric output of other trucks for major projects

 Powering consumer facilities during extended outages 4. E-Buses and Incentives On December 14 of last year, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced a regulation that will move all of the state's public transit agencies to 100 percent zero- emission bus fleets by 2040.7 This regulation is part of a statewide effort to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and 80-90 percent of smog-forming pollutants. The transition to zero-emission technologies, where feasible, is essential to meeting California’s air quality and climate goals. Full implementation of the regulation adopted in December is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 19 million metric tons from 2020 to 2050 – the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off the road, and it will reduce harmful tailpipe emissions (nitrogen oxides and particulate matter) by about 7,000 tons and 40 tons respectively during this implementation. Deployment of zero-emission buses is expected to accelerate rapidly in the coming years – from 153 buses today to 1,000 by 2020, based on the number of buses on order or that are otherwise planned for purchase by transit agencies (map below). Altogether, public transit agencies operate about 12,000 buses statewide.

6 The Free Dictionary, Tender, https://www.thefreedictionary.com/tender 7 California Air Resources Board, " California transitioning to all-electric public bus fleet by 2040", December 14, 2018, https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/news/california-transitioning-all-electric-public-bus-fleet-2040 4

Transit agencies currently deploying or planning on deploying zero-emission buses. Benefits of the regulation are many:

 Transit-dependent riders, especially in disadvantaged and low-income communities, will breathe cleaner air and enjoy quieter rides.

 Transit agencies are expected to save $1.5 billion in maintenance, fuel and other costs by 2050 after the full buildout of infrastructure.

 The deployment of zero-emission buses in California will bring new workforce training and employment opportunities including high-quality manufacturing jobs to communities across the state. The following incentives, grants and other programs are available for fleet managers electrifying vehicles:8 Note that there are other programs available, but the ones described below appear to be most applicable to fleets of electric trucks and buses. Low Carbon Transportation Investments and Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP): Low Carbon Transportation investments are supported by California Cap-and- Trade auction proceeds projects. AQIP, established by the California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007 (AB 118, Statutes of 2007, Chapter 750), is a voluntary incentive program administered by CARB to fund clean vehicle and equipment projects, research of biofuels production. The following projects are supported by this program:

 Advanced Technology Demonstration Projects: Projects help accelerate the next generation of advanced technology vehicles, equipment, or emission controls which are not yet commercialized. Typically, local air districts, other public agencies, and California-based non-profit organizations would be eligible to apply for these projects to demonstrate promising technologies to reduce emissions. Vehicles include trucks and buses.

8 CARB, Air Pollution Incentives, Grants and Credit Programs, https://www.arb.ca.gov/ba/fininfo.htm 5

 Clean Vehicle Rebate Project: The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project is designed to promote the purchase of battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles. Rebates of up to $7,000 per light-duty vehicle are available for individuals, nonprofits, government entities, and business owners who purchase or lease eligible vehicles.

 Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project: provides vouchers to help California fleets purchase advanced technology trucks and buses. The State's investment in HVIP plays a crucial role in accelerating early market penetration of clean technologies with the goal of transforming the California fleet. Voucher amounts for zero-emission trucks range from $20,000 to $315,000, depending on truck-GVWR, zero-emission technology and community type (disadvantaged or not). Vouchers for transit, shuttle, and school buses range from $25,000 to $315,000, depending on type (transit, shuttle or school) plus the above factors. Manufacturers must apply for CARB approval of their vehicle or engine, including hybrid and zero-emission vehicles, low NOx engines, new vehicles equipped with electric power take-off systems, and low NOx engines in order for them to become eligible.