The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has selected the clean transportation consortium CALSTART to continue to administer the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP), which encourages fleet operators to purchase hybrid and battery-electric trucks.

Under this new contract, CALSTART will manage $10 million in additional incentives in 2015 and 2016. CALSTART has been selected to administer each phase of HVIP since the program was initiated by CARB in late 2009.

HVIP incentives are intended to cut the cost of hybrid and zero-emission heavy-duty trucks to make fleet purchases of clean, efficient vehicles more affordable. To date, more than 500 fleets have taken advantage of HVIP funding.

The hybrid vehicle types currently eligible under HVIP are diesel-hybrid, hydraulic-hybrid, and utility vehicles with plug-in battery-electric power take-off devices, according to CALSTART.

Since its inception, HVIP funding has totaled $75 million. The program’s 2014-2015 $10 million in funding is comprised of $5 million from the State's legislature in support of the Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), established by the California Alternative and Renewable Fuel, Vehicle Technology, Clean Air, and Carbon Reduction Act of 2007, as well as $5 million from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, aimed at projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide low carbon transportation benefits to disadvantaged communities.

The State of New York and the City of Chicago also offer voucher incentive programs to encourage the purchase of clean trucks with CALSTART managing the programs for those jurisdictions.

Click here for more information about HVIP.