The Port of Los Angeles is launching five hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV), along with the opening of two hydrogen fueling stations. The 12-month Shore-to-Store (S2S) demonstration project of zero-emissions Class 8 trucks will now include five more hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty trucks, two battery-electric yard tractors, and two battery-electric forklifts.
This project is part of the Port’s Clean Air Action Plan goals which align with California’s statewide climate change, air quality improvement and sustainability targets for reducing greenhouse gases and toxic air emissions. It will also assess the operational and technical feasibility of the vehicles in a heavy-duty setting.
“Transporting goods between our Port and the Inland Empire is the first leg of this next journey toward a zero-emissions future,” Gene Seroka, Port of Los Angeles executive director, said. “This project is a model for developing and commercializing the next generation of clean trucks and cargo-handling equipment for the region and beyond. Just as the air we breathe extends beyond the Port’s footprint, so should the clean air and economic benefits we believe this project will yield.”
The project will cost approximately $82.5 million US. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is supporting the project with a matching grant of $41.1 million and project partners are contributing the rest in financial and in-kind support.
“For generations, neighborhoods located next to high volume traffic corridors have experienced disproportionately high rates of air pollution and pollution-related illness, particularly in the greater Los Angeles region,” Craig Segall, CARB deputy executive officer, said. “We are working steadily to change this trajectory by helping to fund, support and promote comprehensive efforts like the Port of L.A.’s Shore-to-Store Project that will run cleaner and quieter trucks that will substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lower smog-forming emissions as well. It’s a sizable investment in a project with the potential to radically transform how we move freight in one of the most populous regions in the U.S.”