The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has selected CALSTART to continue to administer the largest state clean truck and bus incentive program in the nation. Under this new contract, CALSTART will manage $10 million in additional incentives in 2015 and 2016.
The California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) is unique in that unlike traditional rebate programs, the HVIP process is web-based, quick and simple: fleets suffer no lengthy application forms, proposals, or long waits for reimbursement. The ARB initiated HVIP in late 2009, and it has become the most significant program nationally that encourages fleet operators to purchase hybrid and electric trucks instead of conventional ones. CALSTART has been selected to administer each phase of the program since it began.
“We deeply value and appreciate the trust ARB has placed in us with this selection,” notes John Boesel, President and CEO of CALSTART. “HVIP has been a highly successful partnership between the State, commercial fleets, CALSTART and the emerging industry to help speed clean truck and bus deployment,” Boesel said.
HVIP incentives cut the incremental cost of hybrid and zero-emission heavy duty trucks and buses to make fleet purchases of clean, efficient vehicles more affordable. This important incentive helps owners buy new technology when production volumes are still low. To date, more than 500 fleets have taken advantage of HVIP funding.
Since its inception, HVIP funding has totaled $75 million. The program’s 2014-2015 $10 million in funding is comprised of $5 million from the State's legislature in support of the Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), established by the California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007 (Assembly Bill 118), as well as $5 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, aimed at projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide low carbon transportation benefits to disadvantaged communities.
The HVIP model has worked so well in California that others have developed similar programs based on the same model. Both the State of New York and the City of Chicago now offer voucher incentive programs to spur the purchase of clean trucks and buses. CALSTART manages the programs for those jurisdictions as well.
