The California Air Resources Board will require commercial vehicles manufacturers to produce zero-emission vehicles by 2024, and all new vehicles will need to be zero-emissions by 2045.

"California is an innovation juggernaut that is going electric. We are showing the world that we can move goods, grow our economy and finally dump dirty diesel," said Jared Blumenfeld, California’s secretary for environmental protection.

The requirement to shift to zero-emission trucks, along with the ongoing shift to electric cars, will help California meet its climate goals and federal air quality standards, whilst also driving technology and investment.

Last year a broad coalition of companies, including Nestlé, ABInBev and Unilever, asked the EC to set an ambitious mandatory sales target for emissions-free trucks - having expressed clear concern over the lack of supply of clean vehicles.

Pauline Fournols, clean freight policy officer at Transport and Environment said: “Europe is waking up to the news that the days of fossil fuel trucks in California are over. What truckmakers can do on the other side of the pond, they can also do here. The EU needs to catch up urgently by announcing a binding sales target when it reviews the truck CO2 law in 2022 and the 2030 climate targets.”

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