$100 Million in State Funding Awarded for Truck and Bus Charging and Refueling

Funds will be used to install over 1,500 chargers and dozens of hydrogen dispensers statewide

The Energy Infrastructure Incentives for Zero-Emission (EnergIIZE) Commercial Vehicles Project announced the distribution of over $100 million in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) charging infrastructure incentives to qualified applicants across California. The funds will be used for the purchase and installation of medium- and heavy-duty (MDHD) zero-emission charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure to support the deployment of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and will include the installation of over 1,500 chargers and close to 60 hydrogen dispensers.

Funded by the California Energy Commission (CEC) and administered by CALSTART EnergIIZE is a statewide effort to increase market demand for zero-emission trucks and buses. It is the nation’s first incentives program for commercial vehicle fleet infrastructure. EnergIIZE offers four standard funding opportunities, or “lanes”: EV Fast Track (accepting applications beginning on February 7), Hydrogen (opening in mid-April 2024), EV Jump Start, and EV Public Charging Station. EnergIIZE also offers three set-aside funding lanes that complement the California Air Resources Board’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) awardees for bus and drayage fleet vehicles: Public School Bus Set-Aside, Transit Set-Aside, and Drayage Set-Aside.

“The California Energy Commission is excited to celebrate this major milestone for the EnergIIZE program, with $100 million distributed for ZEV infrastructure,” said Patty Monahan, CEC’s Lead Commissioner for Transportation. “Expanding access to chargers and hydrogen stations for medium and heavy duty zero-emission vehicles is critical for reaching California’s targets for climate and clean air.”

In April 2021, the CEC awarded an initial $50 million in Clean Transportation Program funding to CALSTART to address ZEV needs in California. Since then, nearly 200 projects across the state have been awarded, and today, 18 project sites are complete and operational with charging infrastructure using EnergIIZE funding. Additionally, 60 percent of EnergIIZE applications are in disadvantaged and/or low-income communities; of awarded projects, 89 percent met equity criteria and 86 percent were in disadvantaged or low-income communities.

“This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment from many that share similar aims as EnergIIZE: to better our planet with clean vehicles and the infrastructure to power them,” said Alyssa Haerle, Director of Infrastructure Incentive Administration, CALSTART. “Catalyzing the ZEV market is key to reaching our net-zero climate goals and will spur quicker development of EV charging and hydrogen refueling equipment throughout the country.”

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