News

• CalTrans is soliciting project concepts for Medium- and Heavy-duty ZEV Infrastructure (charging and H2) of up to $60MM (recommended 50% cash cost share) to be submitted to the California Transportation Commission 2024 Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (see links).
• The CalTrans project concept submittal deadline is July 10, 2024, 11:59 pm PDT.
CalTrans is soliciting project concepts for Medium- and Heavy-duty ZEV Infrastructure (charging and H2)

• Proposal Due date changed from July 15, 2024, to August 8, 2024.
• Funding Category B (Pilot and Demonstration Projects) changed to two separate subcategories: Subcategory B1 for pilot-scale design projects, and Subcategory B2 for final design, construction, and operation of demonstration projects.
• Added new requirements for cost sharing.
• Updated requirements for proposal attachments.

A list of frequently asked questions can be found at the solicitation website: PON5500 Frequently Asked Questions. Proposers are encouraged to check this FAQ file regularly for any updates.

ISEF is currently open, with $38 million available for eligible small fleets to request increased vouchers.

California fleets can visit the ISEF Purchaser webpage to view offerings and apply to participate in ISEF. Guidelines to participate in ISEF are available through Appendix F of HVIP's Fiscal Year 2023-24 Implementation Manual.

• 52 unique small fleets requested vouchers for FY 2021-22
• 78% of vouchers requested were for trucks domiciled in a disadvantaged community
• Average fleet size for participants was 5 vehicles
• $25M allocated for Fiscal Year 2020-21, an additional $10M was allocated from broader HVIP to meet the demand by small fleets
• $33M allocated for Fiscal Year 2022-23, an additional $50M was allocated from broader HVIP to further fund ISEF vouchers for small fleet purchases
• $14.3M allocated for Fiscal Year 2023-24

Read more Here

Purpose of Request:
The California Energy Commission (CEC) in partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) are seeking information to support potential medium- and heavy-duty corridor projects under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program). California plans to be the lead applicant for a Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 tri-state medium- and heavy-duty (MDHD) CFI corridor proposal. In this Request for Information, the three states are seeking input regarding where sites would be most used and useful in the near term (2024-2027), site characteristics, power level and types of charging, and other factors that will better inform the states’ application to deploy publicly accessible charging infrastructure for zero-emission MDHD vehicles.

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (JOET) recently released its National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy.1 The strategy describes a phased approach for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) charging and fueling infrastructure, establishing hubs from 2024 to 2027 and connecting those hubs from 2027 to 2030. The JOET encourages parties to align with this strategy in funding applications, and this RFI seeks to gather insights to aid in sequencing the tri-state CFI application(s) with this strategy. The vision of the three states is to identify a limited number of MDHD battery electric hubs and connections in a tri-state FY 2024 CFI application for publicly accessible battery-electric charging infrastructure. California, Oregon, and Washington retain the vision of fostering a West Coast MDHD battery-electric and hydrogen highway along Interstate 5 (I-5) (and beyond) in the coming years. The two future rounds of CFI applications may consider a focus on publicly accessible hydrogen fueling and filling in gaps for both MDHD charging and hydrogen fueling stations.

California intends to submit one tri-state application for FY 2024 for three project sites in California, two project sites in Oregon, and two project sites in Washington to achieve a publicly accessible network of hubs that reflect the National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy2 along I-5. Funding awarded to the tri-state project would be competitively bid in a formal solicitation process by each state. 

The FY 2024 Notice of Funding Opportunity has not yet been released for CFI. The three states are doing advanced planning, and seek responses and comments to this RFI, via docket by June 10, 2024

• Eligible items include, but are not limited to, compressors, chillers, liquid and gaseous hydrogen pumps and storage, electrolysis equipment, transformers, switch gear, hydrogen pumps, high-pressure storage, point-of-sale systems, piping, and pipelines.
Read more Here

• Highest incentive funding cap of all EnergIIZE funding lanes
• Covers 50-75% of eligible equipment and software costs up to $3 million (standard) or $4 million (Jump Start equity criteria).
• Covers a wide range of H2 Infrastructure Equipment & Software
Read more about EnergIIZE Here  Register for EnergIIzE Funding Workshop Here

WASHINGTON — Today, April 24, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the launch of the nearly $1 billion Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program to fund the replacement of certain polluting heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission vehicles. Funded through the Inflation Reduction Act under President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, EPA will award competitive grants for projects that will reduce climate and air pollution from heavy-duty vehicles, support good-paying jobs and improve air quality for communities across the country, particularly those overburdened by air pollution.

“President Biden and his entire administration are working to ensure every community can breathe clean air. EPA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program will slash climate and air pollution and enhance the country’s infrastructure by funding the deployment of zero-emissions vehicles and installation of supporting infrastructure,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The program’s historic investment in zero-emission vehicles will secure our nation’s position as a global leader in clean technologies that address the impacts of climate change.”

“We were in the mechanical era 50 years ago, and now we’re in the electrical era, and soon to come we’ll be in the hydrogen era,” said Local 11 Business Director of Renewables Tommy Faave said. “This is the next era of good-paying electrical jobs – whether it’s hydrogen production, storage, or transportation – hydrogen projects like these are going to be key to building up our membership and bringing in more apprentices and more journeymen into Local 11. Fossil fuels are not going to be around forever.”

The hydrogen-fueled powertrain kit includes hydrogen fuel storage tanks, fuel cell stacks, batteries, electric motors and transmission, and offers a viable alternative to traditional diesel powertrains used in commercial goods transportation as companies look to transition their fleets to zero-emission vehicles.

Toyota's CARB ZEP-certified powertrain kit is now ready for commercialization, with production slated to start for customers later this year at the company's Kentucky manufacturing plant. This newest generation of powertrain reflects key learnings and improvements in things like energy efficiency, package size, and more from extensive real-world testing and development from the company's fuel cell development engineering team.