Truckers can’t afford EPA’s mandate
Consumer uncertainty has risen in recent months as the Environmental Protection Agency gears up for a crackdown on diesel-powered trucks and gas-powered cars.
Thirty percent of heavy-duty vocational trucks and 40% of regional day cabs will need to be zero-direct-emission by 2032, and more than 50% of light- and medium-duty vehicles will have to be fully electric by 2032.
Given the consequences these mandates could have on our supply chains, it’s clear the EPA hasn’t considered the individual needs of all 50 states.
Charging and storing in extreme heat can shorten battery life, leading to reduced efficiency and increased costs. Even more, consider the brutal winters experienced throughout much of the nation. EV batteries lose significant range in cold weather, which can leave truckers stranded, especially with the lack of fast-charging stations. This unpredictability is a major issue. Unlike diesel-powered trucks, EVs can’t maintain consistent performance in extreme cold, which severely impacts efficiency and reliability for truckers.
As a small-business owner, investing in an electric truck is not feasible for a small business like mine. These trucks are projected to be significantly more expensive than their diesel counterparts. A semitruck, for example, starts at $175,000 to $250,000 for a diesel-powered model but jumps to over $400,000 for an electric version.
This financial strain is one reason the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, National Corn Growers Association, American Farm Bureau Federation and American Petroleum Institute recently sued the EPA over its heavy-duty vehicle emission standards. The EPA’s mandate imposes unrealistic burdens on trucking businesses, threatening their viability and disrupting supply chains while overlooking low-carbon solutions like biodiesel and ethanol.
Funnily enough, these so-called “zero-emission” trucks still have displaced emission. The power has to come from somewhere, whether it’s on-board the vehicle or from a power-generation station located miles away from the charging infrastructure.
Moreover, the performance limitations of alleged zero-emission trucks are a major concern. Hauling heavy loads, which is a daily reality for most truckers including myself, drastically reduces an EV’s range. Current EV truck technology has a usable trip range of only 150-250 miles, far less than what’s needed for long-haul trucking. By comparison, my current diesel truck can run 1,200 miles on a single fill-up, with no range limitations.
The practicality of electric trucks is further compromised by their long recharging times. Filling up a diesel tank takes just a few minutes, but charging an EV can take hours. Even the quickest-charging EVs available today need at least 18 minutes to go from 10% to 80% charge, and most take much longer. This downtime is lost productivity for truckers, translating directly to lost revenue.
And these are just some of the problems we will face. Instead of ill-informed mandates from Washington, we should focus on a diversified approach that includes renewable diesel and other low-carbon fuels, which offer immediate and practical benefits without the massive economic disruptions posed by an all-electric mandate.
One thing I know for sure is that electric vehicle mandates for the trucking industry don’t fit with the real-world challenges we face every day. LL
Mike Nichols is the owner of M J Nichols Company Inc. based in Chippewa Falls, Wis. This article was originally published in the Chippewa Herald newspaper.