Midwest Can Do Much More on Truck Electrification

MIDWEST (MI, MN, IL, WI, IN)-  Today, the governors of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana released a joint commitment to medium- and heavy-duty truck electrification through the creation of a Regional Electric Vehicle (REV) Midwest Coalition Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

This MOU aims to do so by coordinating on charging infrastructure and best practices, sharing access to tools and industry leadership across states, and working with energy providers to advance grid advancement.

This announcement is happening during the annual National Drive Electric Week, the largest celebration of electric vehicles nationwide hosted by local organizers and nationally coordinated by Sierra Club, Plug In America, the Electric Auto Association, and EVHybridNoire.

Although trucks and buses account for only 10 percent of all vehicles on the road in the US, they’re responsible for the bulk of air pollution: 45 percent of nitrogen oxide emissions and nearly 60 percent of the particulate matter produced by the entire transportation sector.

Right now, several states are taking action to move forward several key policies that will help advance electrification of the medium- and heavy-duty sector.

Home to the auto industry, the Midwest will be at the focal point of electric truck mobility, and the expansion of the electrification sectors has the potential to create new career paths for workers in the Midwest. By next year, the Midwest will be home to two new facilities producing electric trucks – the Rivian plant in Normal, Illinois, contracted to build 100,000 electric delivery vehicles for Amazon and the Lion Electric complex in Joliet, Illinois, which will be the largest electric truck and bus manufacturing facility in North America.

In response, Hieu Le, Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Campaign Representative, released the following statement:

“This regional agreement is an important step forward to coordinate infrastructure development across the Midwest region to support the deployment of electric trucks. But much more needs to be done to urgently advance clean trucks in these states.”

“Action is needed now. Electrifying freight is a major environmental justice issue, and no community deserves to be a sacrifice zone for the movement of goods.”

“The Midwest has the know-how and the history of transportation innovation to lead this transition, which will benefit workers, and it also has a responsibility to its residents to clean up pollution from trucks. We urge the governors of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana to urgently move forward with existing policies, like the Advanced Clean Trucks rule, Heavy Duty Omnibus rule, and the NESCAUM multi-state truck compact, to save lives and act on climate.”