Tax Incentives for the Trucking Industry Will Speed Up Clean Driving Adoption

Keypoints:

• Oregon Senator Ron Wyden introduced a proposal for major tax incentives for clean driving adoption.
• Daimler Trucks could reap major benefits from the incentive, with an EV that can travel 200 miles.
• Lynn Lyon supports tax incentives for companies to adopt electric vehicles.

Commentary:

This year Oregon Senator Ron Wyden proposed a major tax incentive for clean electricity and electric vehicles. One company with massive potential to reap the benefits of this tax incentive is Daimler Trucks. According to the Portland-based truck company, it has an electric vehicle that can travel more than 200 miles on one charge, and it only takes 90 minutes to charge back up. How possible is it to scale this technology, and can freight make use of government incentives like consumer vehicles can? MarketScale’s Voice of B2B Daniel Litwin talked with Lynn Lyon, Host of Drive Clean, if this tax credit could drum up support for an electric truck, as well as push the industry to provide a clean framework and strategy for electric trucking and clean driving adoption.

Abridged Thoughts:

Globally, clean energy investment plans are far below the NetZero pathway. Better incentives, like a tax credit, would go a long way to accelerate adoption. Truck manufacturers, like Daimler, put in the time and energy to develop new vehicles that the fleets are ready for and the drivers like them. It’s just a matter of the price tag, with large capital expenditures for these companies. If we can find a way to assist them with these initial purchases, they go far beyond just the vehicle prices themselves. It also includes the training, maybe in impact operations, and of course the infrastructure. 

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