Virginia’s republican governor launches idiotic culture war against clean air
Virginia’s republican governor says he wants to violate Virginia law to pull the state out of the California Air Resources Board’s clean car regulations, consigning his state to a costly and burdensome future full of pollution and high fuel prices.
California currently sets its own clean car regulations, which it’s allowed to do under the Clean Air Act. The reason for this is because California had clean air regulations before the federal government did, so as long as its regulations exceed the national regulations, it’s given a waiver so it can set its own.
In 2022, California finalized a relatively conservative goal targeting 80%+ all-electric car sales by 2035 (the regulation will allow up to 20% PHEVs), called “Advanced Clean Cars II” (ACC2). The regulation was intentionally made softer than what California itself could achieve, such that other states that aren’t as far ahead on EV adoption as California is would still be able to adopt it.
The reason for this is because other states are allowed to follow those regulations instead of the federal ones, as long as they adopt the regulations fully.
As a result, there are currently several so-called “CARB states,” or section 177 states, which adopt California’s clean car regulations.
Virginia is one of these states, although the state’s republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, said today that he intends to ensure that the state’s clean air regulations will lapse by the end of this year, despite Virginia law stating otherwise.
Strangely, as part of his politically-charged and immaturely-written release announcing this decision, Youngkin saw it fit to include an opinion of the Virginia Attorney General stating that he is allowed to make this unilateral decision attacking Virginians’ rights to breathe clean air.
Why did he have to include this? Because, despite his claim about CARB being “unelected,” the elected Virginia state legislature did indeed pass a law in 2021 making Virginia a CARB state. And the very same Attorney General confirmed in 2022 that Virginia law would adopt California’s regulations. Republicans in VA legislature tried to pass a law to poison Virginians with higher auto emissions, but failed to do so. As a result, Virginia still remains a CARB state, and the US Department of Energy confirms that Virginia adopted the ACC2 regulation in January.
So, despite Virginia law not changing since then, the state’s republican attorney general seems to think something is different now. We wonder if an upcoming election, where a convicted felon has told oil companies he’ll take $1 billion in bribes to turn dirty air into part of his ignorant culture war, might have something to do with that. Either way, Youngkin’s effort today will surely waste plenty of time and taxpayer money in court.
Beyond the flip-flopping of the VA attorney general, Youngkin’s release contains other false statements. For example, Youngkin decries that these regulations are being decided “3,000 miles away,” when they were in fact voted on by Virginia’s legislature itself (which is actually 0.2 miles away from the Governor’s Office – here’s walking directions for you, Glenn).
He also claims that EVs will cost the state more money, which is simply wrong. Each EV brings an average of $10,000 in health savings. This is why these sorts of regulations save states money – the International Council on Clean Transportation says Virginia will save $814 million in yearly health costs by adopting ACC2 and the American Lung Association says VA will gain $30 billion in long-term health benefits from widespread EV adoption. Not to mention tax credit availability, fuel and maintenance savings, and really cheap deals on EVs right now.
Youngkin claims that he seeks to torpedo the law in order to help Virginia’s auto dealers, but in fact the Virginia Auto Dealer Association was supportive of VA’s 2021 law and of California’s ACC2 regulation. VADA correctly recognizes that adopting ACC2 will give Virginians wider choice of high-tech new vehicles, and wants Virginia to be a leader in the move to EVs.
Unsurprisingly, Youngkin’s illegal announcement received a negative response from environmental and consumer groups, like Sierra Club, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, VA League of Conservation Voters (which pointed out that Youngkin also illegally left a regional effort to reduce power plant emissions), and business assocation Advanced Energy United.
So – Youngkin wants to do something that is objectively bad and costly for his state, that his own attorney general acknowledged violates the law, and that is opposed by health, business and environmental orgs – including the auto dealers themselves. And seems to think, by the way the release was written, that this will score him political points.
Meanwhile, electric cars are already making California healthier – benefits that Virginia could have in the future, if not for its republican governor trying to score political points by forcing poison on his populace (and the absurdity of the situation we’re in – that anyone would consider that a political point-scorer – should not go unnoticed).
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The Canadian home improvement chain picked up a pair of Volvo VNR Electric semi trucks, and it’s putting them to work on last-mile delivery routes in the Greater Toronto Area.
This month, the Canadian home improvement retailer Home Hardware began operating two Volvo electric semi trucks out of its St. Jacobs, Ontario truck depot. The pair of trucks will fulfill last-mile deliveries throughout the area, and mark the company’s first step towards transitioning its entire fleet to zero-emission vehicles.
The Volvo VNR trucks have an operating range of 442 km (about 275 miles). Their delivery routes will take them from Home-brand stores within a 100-150 km (about 90 miles) radius of the St. Jacobs distribution centre.
“We are proud to introduce our new battery-electric trucks to our privately-owned fleet,” said Kevin Macnab, president and chief executive officer, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. “Recognized by the Private Motor Truck Council as Safest Large Fleet, as well as Trucking HR Canada as a Top Fleet Employer and a Fleet of Distinction, Home Hardware Stores, Ltd. is committed to forward-thinking logistics that evolve our supply chain to best support our dealers so they can serve their communities.”
Home Hardware debuted their new Volvo VNR Electric trucks at the company’s 60th anniversary celebration and annual franchise event, the Home Hardware Homecoming, held last week in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Electrek’s Take
Home Hardware is the latest in a growing list of companies – and they’re already adding to the tally of tens of millions of all-electric, zero emission miles driven by Volvo customers. By the time Volvo rolls out its next-generation VNL and FH electric semis next year, it will be the company’s third generation of Class 8 EVs, and it will be backed by more than 100,000,000 miles of real-world data collected by thousands of trucks across dozens of companies.
Is that an insurmountable head start for companies like Tesla to make up? It’s hard to know (and my brain is broken, anyway), but I invite you to check out this episode of Quick Charge recorded a few weeks ago (below) talking about Volvo Truck’s lead, and then share your take on the state of the electric semi truck market in the comments.
Quick Charge
SOURCE | IMAGES: Volvo Trucks.
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The newest edition to the CAA-Quebec roadside fleet is a fully electric Lion5 flatbed – and the CAA says it’s the first 100% electrique tow truck in service in North America!
Based on the Lion5 medium-duty truck and upfit with a flat bed body developed by XpaK Industries, CAA-Quebec (think AAA, but in Quebec) is marking an important milestone in its 80-history with the deployment of the first electric tow truck in Canada.
“Roadside assistance has always been in CAA-Quebec’s DNA, and it goes without saying that we are taking the lead in electric towing. We have a responsibility to set an example and take a leadership role in protecting the environment,” said Marie-Soleil Tremblay, president and CEO.
As far as the truck itself goes, the Lion5 chassis is packed with 210 kWh of in-house, 800V battery packs. Those are good for a range of up to 310 km (a touch over 190 miles) courtesy of an energy-efficient, high-torque electric motor putting 315 hp that Lion Electric claims can eliminate between 75 and 100 metric tons of greenhouse gas per year compared to a comparable diesel truck.
What’s more, the Lion5-based tow truck promises to reduce CAA-Quebec’s energy (read: fuel) costs by about 80%, and regular maintenance costs by about 60% compared to gas or diesel vehicles in the same class.
“With this new 100% electric, made-in-Quebec tow truck, we are helping to redefine the future of the towing industry,” said Patrick Gervais, VP Trucks and Public Affairs at Lion. “We are proud to be part of a cleaner and more sustainable future with players like CAA-Quebec and XpaK.”
The Lion5 tow truck was delivered in July, and will spend a year being put through its paces in a multitude of towing situations and extreme weather conditions. CAA-Quebec’s roadside assistance service will share its experience with partners throughout Canada and the AAA in the US.
Electrek’s Take
“Electrek’s Take” is where we put our industry experience to use interpreting the news we report. Here, in an article about a “first ever” new commercial segment being entered by a highly visible EV, I probably should be talking about operating costs, “dollars and sense,” and the importance of stabilized costs for a fleet manager’s projections.
Instead, I’m just going to picture some bro-dude’s lifted 4×4 Ram pickup getting hauled out of a parking spot he’s ICE’d and giggle a bit. You try it, too, and let me know if it made you smile in the comments section.
SOURCE | IMAGES: Lion Electric, via TowCanada.
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Best known in the US as the OEM behind Nikola, Italian truck brand IVECO entered the 2.5 to 3.5 ton medium duty commercial van segment at this week’s IAA Transportation conference with this: the eMoovy electric chassis cab.
Co-developed with Hyundai and riding on a modified platform of the Korean brand’s Staria ST1 van, the IVECO eMoovy is entering a red-hot commercial EV space with a 215 hp electric motor and either a 63 kWh or 76 kWh battery good for up to 199 miles of range.
The IVECO version leverages the Hyundai’s excellent 800V architecture. That means the eMoovy supports ultra-fast 350 kW charging and V2x functionality, so it can be used to back up a job site, supply power to workers, or even power a home (presumably).
A long time coming
We’ve known than a commercialized IVECO version of the Hyundai van (which isn’t sold as an EV, that I’m aware of) has been in the works for some time. In fact, Peter Johnson wrote about the 2022 deal way back in February.
In that article, Peter wrote that, while Hyundai would develop and build the chassis, IVECO would customize the electric vans to suit broader commercial markets and distribute the vehicles throughout its network. If that sounds familiar, that’s because (on the surface, at least) the deal seems pretty similar to the one IVECO has with Nikola … which begs the question: will Nikola get an eMoovy variant to sell in the US?
The new electric van will directly target Ford E-Transit customers in Europe, so there’s no reason to believe it won’t be an attractive alternative for commercial fleets on this side of the pond, as well – especially with the “big rig” street cred that could come with the Nikola association.
Electrek’s Take
The commercial EV market is driven by dollars and cents. If EVs have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than their gas or diesel counterparts? They’ll continue to sell, and their market share will continue to grow. The only question Hyundai and IVECO need to answer is whether North American truck buyers be more likely to buy a Hyundai-branded van, or a Nikola one.
We asked a similar question to Kia’s James Bell on Quick Charge a few weeks back. Listen to his response to those questions, below, then share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
Kia’s James Bell on Electrek Quick Charge
SOURCE | IMAGES: IVECO, CarScoops.
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