Kenworth Receives Grants for Low-Emission Projects in California

Kenworth has been awarded government grants that will support low emissions projects involving Kenworth T680 Day Cabs targeted for use as drayage tractors in Southern California ports.

Two of the projects are funded at $1.9 million each by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), with Southern California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) as the prime applicant. Kenworth will build two proof-of-concept T680 Day Cab drayage tractors to transport freight from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to warehouses and railyards along the I-710 corridor in the Los Angeles basin.

The first T680 Day Cab will be a hybrid electric drayage truck producing near-zero- emissions by using a CNG engine to generate electrical power. The second T680 Day Cab will feature a hydrogen fuel cell. These trucks are expected to be identical, except for their power generation systems. Both trucks will have an all-electric range of 30 miles, as well as on-board CNG and hydrogen capacity of 100 DGEs.

“Already California is considering regulations requiring port drayage trucks to run at zero-emission levels when operating in economically disadvantaged communities,” said Mike Dozier, Kenworth general manager and PACCAR vice president. “These T680 Day Cab projects are a great opportunity for Kenworth to advance the development of key technologies that may play a critical role in the trucks of the future.”