ATRI: Electrifying Calif. Trucking Will Cost … a Lot

California’s push for electric trucks could come at a tremendous cost, both to the trucking industry and the state, a recent report indicates.

A Dec. 18 report from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) concludes that the California Air Resource Board’s goal — banning diesel truck- and engine-sales over the next 20 years — would necessitate far more trucks on the road and cost the state billions of dollars.

In its evaluation — “Is California Ready for an Electric Vehicle Future?” — ATRI determined that a truck battery’s extra weight means that it’ll take more trucks to haul the same amount of cargo as diesel trucks. The organization estimated that for every 1,000 electric trucks on the road, another 343 would have to be added to make up the difference.

Additionally, the report noted that California would have to shell out up to $2.878 billion to add charging ports to all 13,144 truck parking spaces in the state.