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American truck drivers are sounding the horn on the Biden administration’s recently-finalized environmental rules that intention to push for the heavy-duty automobile sector to go all-electric.
The truckers voiced issues that electric heavy-duty automobile know-how will not be practically superior sufficient to switch the nation’s present diesel-powered fleet, noting limitations on automobile batteries, like low efficiency in chilly climate circumstances and shorter vary. They additionally warned that the dearth of high-powered charging infrastructure and energy grid upgrades wanted for fueling automobiles would current further issues.
“I’m an owner-operator. I’ve been in the business for 30 years,” Mike Nichols, a Wisconsin-based trucker, advised Fox News Digital in an interview. “Even if they subsidized the cost of the electric vehicle 100%, I still would refuse because I still would go broke. That’s how useless they are. If they gave me one of these things, I still wouldn’t take it.
“EV vans do not do as a lot work. They’re heavier, to allow them to’t haul as a lot. They do not go as far. They take longer to cost,” Nichols added, saying he would not have the ability to run his enterprise if he have been compelled into utilizing an electric automobile.
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“So, you are going to want extra vans on the highway, which is totally the other of what we’d need if we have been truly involved about bettering our society.”
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the regulations, which kick in beginning in 2026 for model year 2027 vehicles. The regulations gradually become more stringent through model year 2032, affecting short-haul and long-haul tractor-trailer trucks and vocational trucks like delivery vehicles, school and public transit buses, and garbage trucks, concrete trucks and fire trucks.
EPA previously projected the standards could lead to 50% of vocational trucks, 35% of short-haul tractor-trailers and 25% of long-haul tractor-trailers produced in 2032 being electric.
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While the average diesel-powered semi-truck has a typical range of between 1,500 and 2,000 miles, depending on its mileage and tank size, the highest-end electric semi-truck, Tesla’s Semi model, has a range of 500 miles. And most other electric models have ranges below 330 miles, according to data compiled by Ptolemus Consulting Group.
In addition, electric trucks can take as long as three hours to fully charge, the data showed, while diesel truck tanks can usually be filled in 20 minutes or less.
At the same time, despite the lower efficiency, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation, the average electric truck typically costs around $300,000, while traditional diesel models are half that price on average.
Nichols noted that an additional problem with electrifying heavy-duty vehicles is the impact on trucks that need to execute a power takeoff — for when the vehicle is stationary — but the engine is running to operate another function, such as a hydraulic system, pump or blower. He couldn’t say how a battery-powered truck would perform these tasks.
The American Trucking Associations estimates trucks transported a whopping 11.5 billion tons of freight in 2022, equivalent to about 72% of total tonnage shipped nationwide.
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But less than 1% of new truck sales in the U.S. are zero emissions, according to the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association, which represents the world’s leading manufacturers of heavy-duty vehicles. While the U.S. would need 28 million charging ports by 2030 to meet electrification goals, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, there are currently only 160,000 such ports.
“This administration simply continues to place out rules on truckers and small enterprise trucking with none data and even making an attempt to get the data of what these truckers should undergo. This is simply so irritating to me,” Lewie Pugh, who drove a truck for 25 years and serves as executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), said in an interview.
“Truckers need clear air, clear water however there are particular methods to go about it. We’re passing necessary legal guidelines on know-how that is not even invented, and no person is aware of what the fee goes to be.”
Pugh raised concerns that the U.S. power grid isn’t ready for such an increase in the level of electrical demand that would be sparked by trucks being plugged in so frequently. A December 2022 study by the American Transportation Research Institute determined the full electrification of the U.S. transportation sector would require a 40% increase in generation and transmission capacity compared to the current grid.
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In addition to individual truckers and OOIDA, other industry groups such as the American Trucking Associations and American Bus Association came out against the EPA’s regulations, characterizing them as “burdensome, costly and rife with a sequence of long-term points.”
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In response to the criticism it has received, the EPA pointed to its original explanation of the regulations. The agency told Fox News Digital it would monitor implementation of the regulations in the coming years to determine whether any potential adjustments to the program are warranted.
“The rule will ship substantial public well being advantages, whereas on the similar time guaranteeing fleet house owners and operators the pliability to decide on the automobile applied sciences greatest suited to their operations,” EPA said in a statement.
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.
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