About CalHEAT
The California Hybrid, Efficient and Advanced Truck (CalHEAT) Research Center, sponsored by the California Energy Commission, will be a California-based resource for research, development, demonstration and commercialization of advanced, efficient truck technologies and systems. The CalHEAT Research Center will establish partnerships of diverse stakeholder groups to develop overall research and a market transformation plan and to facilitate that plan's implementation.

Background
Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles are critical to the economy, yet remain a real and growing energy and carbon challenge as yet insufficiently addressed. This segment accounts for a significant portion of petroleum use state and nationwide, and particularly on a per platform basis, due to high per-vehicle fuel use.

Medium- and heavy-duty on-road truck traffic serving urban and goods movement needs combine with heavy-duty off-road vehicle use at distribution centers and ports, which contribute significantly to fuel use, poor regional air quality, and are a sizable source of greenhouse gas emissions.

Goals
The CalHEAT Research Center will pursue the following activities:

• Develop a roadmap for research and market transformation for activities through 2020. This effort will support of California’s goals of reducing petroleum, emissions and carbon in medium and heavy duty trucks. The roadmap will consist of actionable steps involving a variety of technologies such as more efficient drive trains and hybrids, engine downsizing, more efficient auxiliary systems and other technologies that lead to commercialization.
• Demonstrate the use of a high efficiency advanced technology Class 8 truck in an application such as regional delivery or port drayage. CalHEAT will also demonstrate an electric plug-in parcel delivery truck, analyze its performance and infrastructure requirements, as well as evaluate long- and short-term grid requirements.
• In addition, CalHEAT will perform a Market Barrier Analysis on the combination of alternative fuels and high efficiency hybrid technologies.

Get involved
Contact Fred Silver to learn more or to get involved with the CalHEAT Research Center.