QCD Participates in Speaking Panel and Video Featured at Volvo LIGHTS Project Roundup Event

August 25, 2022

On August 23, QCD participated in the Volvo LIGHTS (Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions) Roundup event at Southern California’s Ontario Convention Center with project partners, industry leaders, and media in attendance to learn key insights from the award-winning project’s successful scaling of truck freight electrification. On display to help kick off the event, QCD’s Fontana’s Volvo VNR Electric truck was the first deployed on Southern California delivery routes in spring 2021 as part of the LIGHTS project.

"By working closely with an extraordinary group of public and private partners through the Volvo LIGHTS project, we were able to validate key processes around Class 8 battery-electric truck adoption for commercial transport segments and identify challenges that needed to be addressed for widespread market introduction," said Peter Voorhoeve, President, Volvo Trucks North America in a news release. "The most valuable takeaway for our team was really experiencing the value of close cross-functional and cross-organizational collaboration as we continue to drive innovation and develop new solutions for sustainable transport."

During the event program, QCD Los Angeles General Manager Larkin Williams spoke on a panel about “Real-World Experience with HDBEV Deployments.” Additionally, Volvo showed this video featuring the experiences of fleet operators like QCD that deployed Volvo VNR Electric trucks during the project. The video included footage filmed at QCD Fontana and interviews with Shane Blanchette, QCD Senior Director, Operations, and Ezekiel “Zeke” Murrillo, QCD Fontana Class-A Driver.

Volvo’s innovative, three-year project brought together 14 public and private partners to design and implement a blueprint for the robust support ecosystem necessary to deploy battery-electric trucks and equipment at scale. Implemented in the South Coast Air Basin from 2019 to 2022, Volvo Trucks deployed its first Class 8 pilot Volvo VNR Electric trucks to fleet operators (including QCD Fontana) to collect real-world operating data and customer feedback ahead of announcing its commercial model in December 2020. Other project participants included NFI, DHE, Penske Truck Leasing (Penske), 10 Roads Express, and SCE.

During the multi-year project, Volvo Group North America collaborated with each of the LIGHTS partner organizations to develop programs and best practices, helping to lay the foundation for the successful commercialization of battery-electric freight trucks. Led by Volvo Group North America and South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD), the LIGHTS project included NFI Industries (NFI), Dependable Highway Express (DHE), TEC Equipment, Shell Recharge Solutions (formerly Greenlots), Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Southern California Edison (SCE), CALSTART, University of California, Riverside CE-CERT, Reach Out, Rio Hondo College, and San Bernardino Valley College.

In recognition of the project team’s leadership and tangible results achieved through Volvo LIGHTS, the project received several awards, including the 2020 Innovation Award from Breathe Southern California, 2020 Blue Sky Award from CALSTART, the 2021 Climate Leadership Award from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and The Climate Registry, the 2022 Innovation Clean Air Technology Award from South Coast AQMD, and the 2022 Outstanding Achievement in Sustainability from the Southern California Association of Governments.

The Volvo LIGHTS project was made possible by a $44.8 million award to South Coast AQMD from the CARB as part of California Climate Investments (CCI), a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars toward reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving both public health and the environment. South Coast AQMD also contributed $4 million from its Clean Fuels Fund. Volvo Group and its partners contributed $43 million in match share for a total project of $91 million.