The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has exempted the Class 8, 7, and 6 Repowers from emission standards, allowing Hyzon Motors to sell fuel cell electric trucks in California.
Hyzon’s Repower program permits clients to trade their used diesel trucks for conversion to fuel cell electric utilizing the company’s patented fuel cell technology.
With this certification, Hyzon anticipates offering the first repowered Class 8, Class 7, and Class 6 FCEVs for sale in California. While FCEVs have been awarded trial approvals and fuel cell electric buses have been certified by CARB, no heavy- or medium-duty FCEVs are currently on the market, according to the list supplied by California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP).
HVIP, a subsidy program run by the national clean transportation consortium CALSTART, reduces the incremental cost of clean commercial vehicles. In California, CARB certification is the key criteria for HVIP eligibility. Hyzon anticipates being eligible for the incentive program before the end of the year.
“We are proud to join the list of  vehicle and technology providers certified by CARB as zero-emission, and plan to lead the deployment of fuel cell electric trucks in commercial operations in California,” said Craig Knight, Hyzon Motors CEO. “Our technology has already proven itself in daily runs at the Port of Long Beach, and we look forward to putting more clean trucks on the road. Drayage operations are a particularly attractive use-case on hydrogen, and we expect to see rapid uptake in California.”
Given the 16+ month lead time for new diesel trucks, it is anticipated that repowering vehicles will be a more time- and cost-efficient method for fleets to divorce from diesel. It is anticipated that repowering an existing vehicle will lower consumer expenses, resulting in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) at or below diesel parity in California due to subsidies. In addition, the Repower program prevents the generation of waste and carbon emissions during asset renewal.
