$6.6 Million for 16 Electric Vehicles

New Jersey has been investing heavily in an all-electric vehicle future. On Thursday, April 21, 2022, the Murphy administration announced an additional $6.6 million dollar investment in electric vehicles.

According to Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette, the funds will offset the cost of 16 new electric vehicles that include garbage and dump trucks, dump trucks, and ambulances. (~$412,500/ vehicle)

The funding also includes an e-mobility project in Jersey City that aims to reduce vehicle miles traveled by introducing an electric car-sharing program.

The money comes from New Jersey’s participation in the Regional Green Gas Initiative (RGGI) auction and from the federal Volkswagen settlement.

To date, funding from the Volkswagen settlement and RGGI proceeds have enabled the purchase of 362 electric trucks and buses statewide.

Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette said, “The range of vehicles to be purchased with this latest investment will also demonstrate a broad suite of successful electric vehicle applications in the northern, southern and central regions of New Jersey.”

New Jersey is also eligible to compete for more funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to further the state’s push for an all-electric vehicle future.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to soon announce a $1 billion competitive grant for electric and alternative-fueled school buses. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced a $1 billion competitive grant for low and zero-emission transit buses.

Projects funded in this last round of RGGI auction proceeds include:

*Find a list of awarded projects here.

Call for Electrification Projects: funding to replace diesel vehicles with electric vehicles (this includes local government vehicles like garbage and dump trucks and ambulances)

E-Mobility Projects: Electric vehicle carshare and ride-hailing programs, electric taxis, EV shuttles, and more.

NJ Diesel Demonstration Projects: uses retrofit technologies such as diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs), diesel particulate filters (DPFs), and idle reduction technologies to reduce diesel emissions in on-and-off-road vehicles, trains, and port-related equipment like cranes.

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The NJ Transit Idle Reduction Project in Raritan Borough, NJ

In response to complaints from residents of the Borough of Raritan about noise and odors from idling trains at NJ Transit’s Raritan rail yard, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), with the cooperation of NJ Transit, implemented an Idling Minimization Program, under which locomotives are shut off approximately 1 hour after returning to the yard for the evening, or when laying over in the yard for more than 1 hour, when ambient temperatures are above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. This effort was completed in 2008 and the Idling Minimization Program remains in effect.

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