It is truly remarkable what the E-Truck Task Force (E-TTF) has accomplished in less than one year.  Beginning just last April with a survey to scope out the issues and barriers in the e-truck market, CALSTART’s HTUF group created the E-TTF, which now includes more than 125 industry and vehicle-user representatives. The task force then clarified the issues and more research was conducted. Now, nine months later, the E-TTF has published their findings and recommendations to facilitate the success of the e-truck market.
 
“What was surprising to many was that even in the early market there is a sound business case for e-trucks, if they are placed in the right applications, and get high daily usage,” states Bill Van Amburg, Senior Vice President, CALSTART. “And, we built a business case calculator to help fleets hit that best spot.”
 
E-TTF predicts increased e-truck success over the next five years as battery life extends to up to 10 years and the first cost of e-trucks drops by up to 20 percent. Of course, there are barriers to continued e-truck success and the next E-TTF Goal is to attack each one.

 

 
“What’s remarkable,” says Whitney Pitkanen, Project Manager, CALSTART, “is that, whenever obstacles are discovered, people from all the different sectors come together to find solutions.”  In brief, here are the barriers E-TTF uncovered and the plan of attack for the next two-year  period.

 

To participate in or learn more about E-TTF, click here.

 

Barriers to Success of  E-Truck Market Growth	E-TTF’s  Two-Year Plan of Attack
E-Truck first-cost is significantly higher	Seek support incentives Call on battery industry to lease batteries  and/or extend warranties Reduce system design/manufacturing costs
Vehicle quality and Support	Link sales expansion to adequate support and parts network Increase quality checks before manufacturer delivery Encourage fleets to require service turn-around minimums upon purchase
Lack of business case data	E-TTF created a business case calculator* Create a clearinghouse for in-use data Create joint info/data documents and tools
Lack of awareness of infrastructure requirement/costs	E-TTF created an installation guide* Work to create commercial EV charging rate Reduce/eliminate demand charge for commercial EV charging Create incentives to offset infrastructure costs

*Completed

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