The agriculture, construction and commercial harbor craft sectors have the opportunity to receive funds from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to purchase vehicles that will help their fleets reduce emissions and become more sustainable.
The project is administered by CALSTART and has $125 million in funding available, more than double the amount allocated to the project when it first launched in January 2020. Originally only for freight, in 2022, CORE is expanding to include funding for the commercial harbor craft and agriculture and construction sectors.
Qualified participants will receive vouchers for point-of-sale discounts on off-road, zero-emission equipment, up to a maximum of $500,000 per voucher. There is no requirement to "scrap," sell, or retire existing equipment, and additional funding may be available for charging/refueling infrastructure, equipment operated in disadvantaged communities, and small businesses.
CORE supports the following nine equipment categories:
The first round of CORE resulted in over 460 vouchers for vehicles and electric vehicle supply equipment totaling over $62 million, with terminal tractors being the most requested equipment type.
"The streamlined process incorporates feedback from program participants and we are anticipating significant interest in this second round," said Niki Okuk, deputy director at CALSTART. "The industry is continuing its transition to zero-emissions and CORE provides a clear market signal that helps bring new products to the market."
Another project that will help the agriculture sector reduce emissions includes Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announcing in February that his department will invest $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s sustainable farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
The initiative will provide both financial and technical assistance to pilot projects lasting between one and five years for US agricultural and forestry products that use sustainable practices. Recipients are expected to demonstrate products’ greenhouse gas benefits through “innovative, cost-effective” means of measurement and verification and market the “climate-smart” commodities post-development.
Volvo Construction Equipment also recently announced that North American customers can now reserve any of the company’s three newest electric machine models.
