CARB Vouchers Set to Scale Up Hybrid Truck, Bus Fleet Purchases
A ground-breaking California project designed to stimulate the purchase and use of medium- and heavy-duty hybrid trucks and buses has opened for business at the Web site, CaliforniaHVIP.org.
The Hybrid Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program (HVIP) was created by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to help California truck and bus buyers to buy these advanced, low-emission vehicles by providing vouchers to directly reduce their cost. HVIP provides buyers with purchase vouchers ranging from $10,000 to $45,000 per eligible vehicle. However, vouchers are only available on a first-come, first-served basis and buyers (fleets) are limited to no more than 100 vouchers each.
CALSTART, the clean transportation organization, is administering the HVIP program for ARB and operates the CaliforniaHVIP.org Web site to support fleet, dealer and manufacturer involvement in the program. All voucher applications are made online by truck dealers working with a truck buyer.
HVIP is a dynamic, novel approach to driving new technology to market. It is the nation’s first program to directly reduce the up-front cost of hybrid vehicles for fleets that purchase and operate them in California. The HVIP voucher cuts about half the incremental cost of purchasing early-production hybrid heavy-duty trucks and buses, helping owners buy this cleaner new technology when production volumes are still low, and prices high. The estimated 800 vehicles HVIP should place on the road directly leads to U.S. manufacturing and technology jobs, since American companies are leaders in heavy-duty hybrid technology.