What you should know about the $1 billion Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program
by Leah Brams
On April 24, the EPA announced its brand new Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program – nearly $1 billion of funding to help school districts, municipalities, Indian Tribes, and states replace their current fossil-fueled vehicles with zero-emission vehicles. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering applying.
About the Program
The EPA has dedicated up to $932 million to help replace eligible Class-6 and Class-7 school buses and other heavy-duty vehicles with zero-emission models. At least $400 million will be used for projects in nonattainment areas with the goal of improving air quality in historically impacted communities. The funding may be used for procurement of the vehicles and charging infrastructure as well as project implementation costs and workforce development training.
Eligible vehicles for replacement include Class-6 and -7 school buses and other vehicles, including refuse haulers/dump trucks, transit buses, delivery trucks, utility trucks, bucket trucks, and other box trucks. Applications will be divided between a school bus sub-program and a “vocational” vehicles sub-program for all other eligible vehicles, with dedicated funding for both.
There is a 10-vehicle minimum for the School Bus Sub-Program and a 3-vehicle minimum for the Vocational Vehicles Sub-Program.
The EPA has designed the program to support the incremental cost between a new electric vehicle and the equivalent diesel model. The Agency has laid out by vehicle type, the percentage of the cost of the new vehicle and associated charging. For school buses, the EPA will cover up to 75% of the new vehicle with a maximum per bus (and associated charger) funding level of $280,000.
Important Dates
- Application Deadline: Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 11:59 pm ET
- Award Notification: November 2024
- Official Award: February 2025
Get Support for your Application
Competitive grant applications like the Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program are a large undertaking. With so many aspects involved – from pulling together the right supporting materials, working with community partners like a utility to get the necessary information for your fleet, and then writing the application itself – putting together a compelling submission is a lot of work.
At Highland, making electrification accessible and affordable for all communities is our mission – that includes supporting school districts and municipalities with the creation of their applications and the navigation of the federal submission process.
To date, Highland has helped school districts secure approximately $210 million in grants and incentives. We have the most experience nationwide in applying for EPA electric school bus grants. Having worked with multiple districts to secure funding for the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program – including the 2022 rebate lottery, 2023 grant, and 2023 rebate – we are excited to partner with school districts and municipalities to design and implement high-quality Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program projects.
Let us help you submit an award-winning application and take the journey with you toward successful and affordable fleet electrification.
Send your questions about the CHDV program to our team of dedicated grant experts at epa@highlandfleets.com. We look forward to partnering with you.
