California pays for new zero-emission forklifts

As California plans to ban the sales of new propane and diesel-powered trucks starting in 2026, it has introduced an incentive programme for switching to zero-emission forklifts in 2022.

The Clean Off-Road Equipment Voucher Incentive Project (CORE) has $125,000,000 to spend on subsidies to encourage California businesses to purchase or lease zero-emission off-road trucks. These incentives help offset the higher cost of zero-emission forklifts with a point-of-sale discount. There is no requirement to scrap the existing forklifts, and additional funding is available for charging infrastructure and for equipment deployed in disadvantaged communities.

CORE is being launched by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which is developing the regulations for banning the sales of propane and diesel forklifts.

CORE voucher amounts are based on the incremental cost difference between traditional equipment and new zero-emission alternatives. For example, the discount is set at $15,000 for the Worldwide forklift (8,820 lb. load capacity), $20,000 for the Hyster J190XNL (19,000 lb. load capacity), and $90,000 for the Hyster J300XD (30,000 lb. load capacity).

Any forklift user in California is eligible. To take advantage of this program, the equipment you purchase must be used in a facility located in California, and must be operated for at least three years in California after the voucher redemption date. Equipment users must also submit activity reports for three years.

The good news is that the size of the fleet does not affect voucher amounts, and there is no limit on the number of vouchers for which equipment users may apply. However, the vouchers are only valid for equipment on the list of the OEMs participating in the program, and this point-of-sale discount is available only through a limited number of participating forklift dealers.

Participation in CORE programme

Choose the forklift brand in the equipment catalog. At the moment there are 6 participating OEMs:

Hyster-Yale Group
Worldwide Forklifts
Wiggins
Kalmar
Taylor Machine Works
Carer Electric Forklift Solutions

Contact an eligible dealer who will submit the voucher request to the Voucher Processing Center (VPC):
- Cal-Lift, Inc. (13027 Crossroads Pkwy S, City of Industry, CA 91746)
- XL Lifts (4572 Telephone Road Suite 908, Ventura, CA 93003)
- BYD (1800 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015)
- Kalmar (3850 Channel Dr., West Sacramento, CA 95691)
- Papé Material Handling – Hyster‑Yale Group (2600 Peck Road, City of Industry, CA 90601)
- Holt of California (3850 Channel Dr., West Sacramento, CA 95691)

From there you must provide the dealer with the intended location of the equipment, small business designation, and other information, then simply purchase equipment with a discount.

Programme expansion

The programme recently expanded to include Class I forklifts, adding them to the following types of industrial zero-emission equipment eligible for subsidies: