As an adjunct to our earlier story that Orange EV has begun taking orders for its new Class 8 T-Series electric terminal trucks, it’s worth highlighting here that Orange EV has announced that organizations and businesses operating fleets in California will now be able to receive up to $120,000 in incentives towards the purchase of new T-Series all-electric Class 8 terminal trucks with extended-duty battery packs.
To be more specific, those purchasing the new T-Series electric terminal trucks have access to a preliminary voucher of $95,000 that’s increasable up to $120,000.
The new voucher incentives can reportedly be approved rapidly, within only a matter of days, according to Orange EV representatives. The requirements? That participating fleet operators commit to operating the new electric trucks in the state of California for a minimum of 3 years. If operators wish to redeploy elsewhere after 3 years, that is considered to be fine, according to the voucher stipulations.
Financing options are available for the remainder of the purchase price, as a means of reducing upfront costs and helping to make the trucks balance out against similar diesel trucks. (The Orange EV trucks have higher upfront costs but considerably lower operational costs.)
It should be remembered here that the state of California monetarily penalizes the use of old, heavily polluting diesel trucks — thus making the new Orange EV trucks more financially attractive.
Orange EV Chief Commercial Officer Mike Saxton commented on the matter: “It makes financial sense to begin deployment now (because of fuel/costs savings), but if the financial upside of going electric isn’t enough, regulatory mandates have increased the urgency.”