Transportation is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Washington. Trucks contribute about a third of our transportation emissions, though they are only about 10% of the vehicles on the road.
Washington’s Advanced Clean Trucks rule aims to gradually increase the number of zero-emissions vehicles on the road through 2035. It covers medium and heavy-duty vehicles ranging from large pickups and delivery vans to class seven and eight semi-trucks.
Sales of those largest trucks have lagged behind expectations. Washington’s proposed update to its regulations adds flexibility for manufacturers’ compliance. At the same time, the state has boosted funding to more than $130 million for subsidies to help increase purchasing and build charging infrastructure. That spending is expected to hit the streets in the coming months.
Washington’s zero-emissions regulations are based on California’s standards, which state legislators passed into law in 2020. For trucks, Washington is one of 11 states following California’s lead, rather than opting for less stringent federal emissions rules. The updates also follow the most recent update in California.
Compliance as of 2025
As of this year, vehicle manufacturers have to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emissions alternatives to diesel. (For model year 2025, that number is 7% or 11%, depending on weight class, for 2026 models 10% or 13%, and so on.) Or they can comply by purchasing credits on an exchange, from companies that have surpassed their targets.
Sales of most commercial electric vehicles are exceeding expectations in Washington – like the delivery vans often seen in neighborhoods. With heavy-duty semi-trucks, however, the opposite is the case, according to Joel Creswell, the state Department of Ecology's climate pollution reduction program manager.
A big issue is their range. Zero-emission semis with 500 miles of range are just starting to come onto the market. And the charging infrastructure is also lacking.
That’s hampering their deployment, even on short-haul routes where they could provide the most benefits in terms of reducing air pollution.
Neighborhoods near ports suffer health impacts from particulate and other toxins coming out of diesel tailpipes. Drayage truckers in Washington have been pushing for help getting into new electric semis. So far not much has happened.
A tough transition
Creswell said it’s a tough transition because new diesel semi-trucks are typically used first for long-haul trucking. Then, when they retire out of that sector, they’re sold second-hand, at lower prices, into short-haul trucking.
“Where the technology is right now, the zero emission semi-trucks are better for the short and the regional haul trucking, but that's not the business model,” Creswell said.
He said the infusion of cash from the state’s Climate Commitment Act should help. Pilot programs through the Northwest Seaport Alliance and the City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability & Environment will soon help trucking companies and owner-operators finance battery electric trucks. And Creswell said Washington is partnering with California and Oregon to build a West Coast charging network that stretches from Mexico to Canada.
“We're responding to the concerns with the semi-trucks by giving the manufacturers more flexibility, and then also increasing the funding and the charging infrastructure,” he said.
Without that kind of help, drivers who have long wanted to get into electric trucks are still waiting. Dawit Habte, founder and CEO of Afar Trucking and Logistics, operates fleets of drayage semis at warehouse facilities near the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. He said his business has been so slow in the last two years that not much is happening for individual companies and operators.
“Personally, because of the current business climate, I didn’t invest in electric trucks yet,” he said, via text. New electric semis are still too expensive.
“It is hard to justify, to invest that kind of money when the work is not there.”
Even in a good economy, with high insurance costs, Habte thinks it would be hard to break even. He is eagerly awaiting the pilot programs and anything to help bring prices down.
“Some kind of subsidy is warranted, to help offset some of these costs,” Habte said.
However, on Friday, the Washington Trucking Associations issued a statement urging that Washington delay the implementation of the update. WTA said two more states that follow California’s regulations – Vermont and Oregon – had announced plans to delay this latest update from California, pending improvements in the market for electric semis.
“WTA recognizes the importance of using clean energy for our environment. Unfortunately, some segments of industry, including trucking, are not there yet technologically. You cannot force heavy duty EV trucks into widespread existence. Additional time, investments and infrastructure is needed to make this work,” said Sheri Call, president and CEO of the trucking industry group.
Creswell, however, said the state is “on the cusp of a really important transition,” with this new push. He said the state’s spending will get into the hands of willing truck buyers who will get more trucks on the road.
“And they're going to demonstrate use cases, and they're going to show how feasible it is to adopt this technology, even in the heavy duty class,” he said.
