The Volvo Group was recently honored with CALSTART’s 2020 Blue Sky Award during the organization’s annual meeting, a virtual gathering of the clean transportation industry’s top leaders and decision-makers.
The annual Blue Sky Award is presented to organizations and individuals who have made outstanding marketplace contributions to clean air, climate change mitigation and the development of clean transportation technologies. The Volvo Group and its Volvo LIGHTS project were recognized for their efforts in uniting public and private stakeholders to successfully introduce zero-emission battery-electric trucks and equipment into commercial operation.
“We are incredibly pleased to honor the Volvo Group, and the vision shown in its Volvo LIGHTS project and team, with this year’s Blue Sky Award,” says John Boesel, president and CEO of CALSTART. “The project has played a critical role in making medium- and heavy-duty transportation electrification real by uncovering and resolving numerous potential obstacles to widespread adoption.”
The Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) project is a collaboration between 15 public and private partners to develop a blueprint to successfully introduce battery-electric trucks and equipment into the market at scale. The project is led by the Volvo Group and South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD), along with various partners. CALSTART’s role in the project is to manage the procurement of zero-emission terminal tractors, forklifts and other non-road equipment.
The Volvo LIGHTS project recently achieved several important milestones critical to the success of the initiative. Two of the project’s fleet partners, third-party supply chain solutions provider NFI and Dependable Highway Express (DHE), recently received and began piloting four Volvo VNR Electric trucks. The two fleet partners are tasked with testing the battery-electric trucks in their daily operations, gathering real-world operational data on the trucks’ power, performance and range.
Earlier this month, Volvo Trucks North America announced it will begin selling the Volvo VNR Electric truck model to U.S. and Canadian customers on Dec. 3, and begin production at its New River Valley manufacturing plant in Dublin, Va., in early 2021.