British Columbia Announces Weight Allowance for Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles
The Province of British Columbia has announced an expanded weight allowance for low-carbon commercial vehicles. A first for any province of territory in Canada. This move supports the Province’s CleanBC goal of ensuring an ever-greater portion of vehicles on B.C. roads are powered by electricity, hydrogen and renewables. It is another way to provide an incentive to encourage fleets to help decrease greenhouse gas emissions in commercial trucking. Currently, medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles are responsible for about 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions from B.C.’s road transportation sector. They transport nearly 92% of all consumer goods (by weight) in the province.
“We’re the only province or territory to offer a weight allowance incentive that empowers trucking companies to make investments in clean technology upgrades, knowing with confidence that it will be a sound investment for them,” said Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. “Promoting the adoption of green technology is not only central to our commitment to fighting climate change, but is essential to positioning the province for a strong economic recovery.”
B.C. is offering a 1,500 kg allowance to electrically powered, full-sized commercial vehicles and a 1,000 kg allowance to hydrogen-powered vehicles. To further support broad adoption, the government will make increases to maximum gross combination vehicle weight, up to 65,000 kg and 64,500 kg respectively. This is consistent with allowances already made for liquified natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) fuelled trucks and buses. For Hydra the additional 1000kg means the extra weight from our tank rank of about 800kg is fully covered and trucks that we convert won't lose any payload.
As proud members of the BC Trucking Association we appreciate their continued advocacy for low-carbon solutions.
Press Release: Weight Allowance Greenlit for Low-Carbon Commercial Vehicles
Learn More:
Information about CleanBC, British Columbia’s climate action plan: https://www.cleanbc.gov.bc.ca
More information about commercial vehicle safety in B.C.: Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement: https://www.cvse.ca
