As several states begin to adopt California's zero-emission truck sales mandates, New Jersey dealers are voicing their concerns.
These regulations, designed to expedite the transition to electric vehicles in the heavy trucking industry, mandate that truck manufacturers ensure a minimum of 7% of their total sales are zero-emission in the states that have chosen to adopt these regulations.
According to NPR, ten states have currently opted to follow these Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) rules. However, New Jersey dealers are pushing for a delay in the implementation of these rules, highlighting the contentious nature of these mandates. Despite this pushback, there is no indication that the implementation will be delayed, as the rules are set to take effect at the beginning of the new year, and New Jersey's governor has shown support for the current timeline.
This push for delay is indicative of a larger impending battle over state EV mandates for passenger vehicles. Heavy trucks have a significant impact on both climate change and public health. Emissions from large diesel vehicles contribute to health issues such as asthma, particularly in communities near warehouses and ports.
California is uniquely equipped to tackle this issue, as the federal Clean Air Act allows the state to set its own, stricter standards due to its acute pollution problems and history of regulating emissions. Other states can choose to adopt California's rules or stick with the federal ones.
With the expected rollback of federal standards by the Trump administration, state rules are likely to gain more significance. Despite the incoming administration's expected challenge to California's right to set these rules, truck manufacturers are currently in a partnership with the state. They have agreed to adhere to its rules regardless of electoral or legal outcomes.
In return for honoring these rules, truck manufacturers have been granted more flexibility, such as a three-year compliance period instead of one. However, truck dealers are not part of this partnership. In New Jersey, they have expressed to state lawmakers that the rules are unworkable.
New Jersey State Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese was inspired by a lobbyist for truck dealers to introduce a bill that would delay the clean truck rules by two years. The public debate over this bill, which is not scheduled for a full vote, was unusually intense.
At a hearing over the bill earlier this month, truck dealers who testified expressed a common sentiment. "We all want a cleaner environment, but we just can't do it at this point, the way this is written," said Frank Piazzola. Jack Licata echoed this sentiment, stating, "I know we all want to do the right thing, but we just can't right now." Spencer Campbell added, "We are not California. We don't have the size, the capacity, nor have made the investments necessary to make ACT work."
While these rules technically do not regulate dealers, they are responsible for selling the vehicles. Dealers argue that high prices and buyer concerns about charging and range limitations make it difficult to sell enough EVs to make up at least 7% of the market. This is particularly challenging for the largest trucks, known as class 7 and 8 in industry jargon.
Spencer Campbell, who sells both electric and diesel trucks, explained, "The challenge here is very simple. There is no demand for EVs for class 7 through 8, especially, which I represent in New Jersey. That's all we're trying to tell you guys here."
Environmental groups argue that the rules are feasible due to the extra flexibilities built into them, and that there's more at stake than dealership sales. "We have the policies we need and they are fully achievable," said Karla Sosa of the Environmental Defense Fund. Others warned about the dangers of a delay. "There is a real cost in human suffering to waiting to implement these measures," said Nicky Sheats of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance.
The position of truck manufacturers in this debate is complex. They are technically neutral: The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) and its member companies have agreed not to lobby against states adopting the ACT rules. This is a requirement of their partnership with California that allows them to negotiate for flexibilities. However, the EMA has expressed concerns about parts of the regulations to New Jersey and other states. Jed Mandel, the head of the EMA, said the members of his trade group have invested billions in EVs but worry that the mandates are "too much, too fast."
All parties involved in this debate agree that there are real challenges to electrifying New Jersey's fleet, especially when it comes to the largest trucks.
Not all heavy-duty vehicles are available in zero-emission versions yet, or those versions aren't practical for every need, like long-haul trucking. The upfront costs of buying electric vehicles are significantly higher, and switching to electric trucks requires building charging infrastructure. And while 7% might not sound like a lot, as of last year EVs were less than 1% of heavy-duty truck sales in the state, according to Atlas Public Policy.
Regulators and environmental groups argue that these problems are actively being addressed. "This program is not just feasible. It's already well underway," Shawn M. LaTourette, New Jersey's commissioner of environmental protection, told NPR in an interview.
Manufacturers have already started to bank credits based on previous year's sales, which the rules allow. LaTourette said for medium-duty vehicles, the industry as a whole is set to meet the requirements already, before the new year even starts.
The heavy-duty trucks, the class 7 and 8 that Spencer Campbell warned about, are more challenging. But even there, the industry only needs to sell 109 trucks, according to those preliminary numbers. That's not even counting trucks sold in 2024, which can be counted toward 2025's total. And there's government funding to help with costs, including hundreds of millions of dollars for charging for these vehicles specifically.
Dealers argue that it's not enough. And some point to California as a cautionary tale. While the percentage of electric trucks sold in the state has risen sharply, total truck sales have fallen since these rules went into effect, starting with trucks manufactured for model year 2024.
In the first 10 months of 2024, sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks fell 6%, and the largest trucks were down 20%, compared to the previous year, according to S&P Global Mobility data. Nationally, the market dropped 3% over that timeframe. The company's Greg Genette said several factors are driving that decline, including ACT.
California and the other states embracing ACT are already adjusting the regulations to adapt to market realities. Take Washington state, which has already adopted these rules for trucks manufactured for model year 2025. There, truck makers are also on track for compliance in most vehicle categories. Still, for the biggest trucks, EVs are barely over 1% of sales far short of the requirement. That's according to data the state shared with NPR.
Washington state regulators say those rules are currently being adapted to make them more feasible. For example, one policy change under consideration would reduce the EV sales requirements for the biggest trucks by an estimated 90% or more in 2026.
In New Jersey, EV advocate Pam Frank says opposition to the rules has mixed misinformation like claims that the regulations ban diesel trucks with genuine challenges, like companies' charging needs and higher truck prices. For the legitimate problems, she said, "we have answers to each of them."
"This regulation should be going into effect as planned with all the flexibility in there," she said, "and we should make sure that the dealers are not getting squeezed unfairly."
Similar debates have played out in other states adopting these rules, like New York and Oregon. So far, they've all stuck with their planned timelines.
It appears that this may also be the case in New Jersey. Calabrese, the state lawmaker who introduced the bill to delay, said he doesn't expect it to become law. His transportation committee voted unanimously to advance it, but he's not expecting similar support from the state senate's environmental committee and the legislature is now out of session.
The rules will still go into effect on January 1.
But the fight won't be over. This debate is over trucks, but another fight is coming.
California is also setting mandates for passenger car sales, with new rules that would ramp up to requiring 100% of the cars sold in the state to be emission-free (including plug-in hybrids). Currently, about 1 in 4 new cars sold in California fit the requirement. The national average is around 10%.
For model year 2026, sales of which begin next year, California will require 35% of new sales to be electric.
Laura Perrotta is the president of NJ CAR, a group representing car and truck dealers. She was at that hearing lobbying for a delay in the truck mandates and when these EV mandates actually kick in for passenger cars, she said, "it's going to cause real reckoning with the auto industry across the country."
About a dozen states are currently planning to follow California's car standards. Those rules are almost certain to wind up as the subject of a legal battle with the Trump administration. But before they do, they could face political battles closer to home.
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