New Jersey Economic Development Authority – Jesse Duran – 2021

Goals

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is now implementing the NJ ZIP, a medium-duty voucher pilot program that provides vouchers for up to $100,000 to businesses and other organizations in the greater Newark and Camden areas, to support the purchase of zero-emission medium-duty vehicles. The NJEDA challenged Jesse Duran to identify opportunities for process improvement of the existing program as well as to research and propose a sister program to broaden access to zero-emission vehicle technology and reduce emissions within New Jersey. 

Solutions

• Conduct internal stakeholder interviews to document the existing NJ ZIP process and determine sticking points and areas for potential improvement of flow.
• Research and propose a second-hand zero-emission vehicle program for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Responsibilities included: Performing research of American and European incentive programs; creating a project plan; conducting stakeholder outreach with advocacy organizations and Original Equipment Manufacturers to identify challenges; researching upcoming and existing legislation and regulation; and recommending solutions aligned to the NJEDA’s organizational procedures to incentivize a second-hand market.
• Research methods to assess second-hand electric vehicles’ quality and related pricing structure.

Potential Impact

The programs that that were researched and assessed are designed to make zero-emission vehicle sales happen. By directly supporting closing the price gap between zero-emission vehicles and their internal combustion counterparts, these programs both have a direct impact on the industry.

In 2021, assuming NJ ZIP is fully subscribed at $15M in voucher requests, Jesse estimated that this would annually offset up to 69 million diesel miles with zero emissions; reducing harmful emissions, especially in communities disproportionately impacted by transportation emissions, and creating economic opportunity within the state. An expansion of the program to $25M, with improved processes, could increase that impact by 60%.

As for the second-hand zero-emission market, Jesse proposed a $2M pilot program that is intended to remove 20 dirty diesel MHDV from the road, replacing them, and any future sales, with lower or zero-emission used vehicles, and setting the grounds for the second-hand market of medium- & heavy-duty vehicles in New Jersey. This proposal was submitted to EDA for their review at the end of his term.