“Account Sharing” is a feature within the VPC which allows multiple HVIP approved dealers within the same organization to view/edit one another’s vouchers.

“Batch” One voucher request that includes a quantity of more than one, with the same purchaser, vehicle, and vehicle domicile

“Bill of Lading” for the purposes of this program means a written receipt that confirms transportation of goods by a carrier (i.e., a binding contract that evidences an agreement of shipment between carrier and shipper; a receipt that acts as evidence of delivery of the shipment). The delivery address should match the domicile address on file.

Delivery Bill of Lading to the customer: must include the origin and destination address, dated driver signatures at pick up and drop off to destination, full VIN and the carrier company information. The destination address must match the address of the Domicile address on file. If a BOL cannot be provided, the dealer must provide an attestation letter signed and dated by the dealer and purchaser that includes:

1. Carrier company and contact info
2. Origin and destination address (address must match domicile location in VPC)
3. Vehicle information including the VIN
4. Inspection notes (optional)
5. Driver signature and date when the vehicle is picked up (optional if attestation letter is provided)
6. Driver and destination/receiving party signature and date when the vehicle is delivered (optional if attestation letter is provided)  

“CARB-Certified” for the purposes of HVIP means a vehicle that has been certified and issued an Executive Order by CARB.

“CARB Project Liaison” for the purposes of this program is CARB staff person named in this Implementation Manual that serves as the point of contact for coordination with HVIP Grantee.

“California Native American Tribal Government” for the purposes of this program, California Native American tribal governments include all federally recognized tribes in California listed on the most recent notice of the Federal Register, and non-federally recognized tribes, including those listed on the California Tribal Consultation List maintained by the California Native American Heritage Commission.

“Commercial vehicle” for the purposes of this program means any vehicle used by a business, public or governmental agency, or non-profit to carry people, property, or hazardous materials.

“Common ownership or control” for the purposes of this program means being owned by the same person, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or association. In addition, vehicles managed day to day by the same directors, officers, or managers, or by corporations controlled by the same majority stockholders are considered to be under common control even if their title is held by different business entities. See Appendix C of the FY22-23 Implementation Manual for more information.

“Complete Vehicle” for the purposes of HVIP and as defined by the Federal Transit Administration, “a vehicle that requires no further manufacturing operations to perform its intended function. This includes vehicles that are altered only by (1) the addition, substitution, or removal of readily attachable components (such as mirrors, or tire and rim assemblies) or (2) minor finishing operations (such as painting) in such a manner that the vehicle’s stated weight ratings are still valid.”

“Dealer (HVIP approved dealer)” for the purposes of HVIP means the vendor of the complete vehicle or vendor that sells and installs engines in existing vehicles and includes dealers or manufacturers that sell new medium- or heavy-duty vehicles directly to a vehicle purchaser.

“Disadvantaged Communities” for the purposes of this program are identified by the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). To determine whether a project qualifies as located in a disadvantaged community, the Grantee must use the criteria in Assembly Bill 1550.
For the DAC incentive, the domicile address must fall in one of the following areas of the mapping tool at https://webmaps.arb.ca.gov/PriorityPopulations/
· Disadvantaged Communities = Yellow on map legend
· Disadvantaged AND Low Income Communities = Green (Yellow AND blue on map legend)
· Low Income Communities within ½ mile of a Disadvantaged Community = Crosshatched purple on map legend
· Low Income Households within ½ mile of a Disadvantaged Community = Crosshatched grey on map legend

“Domicile” for the purposes of this program is defined as the vehicle’s “home base” / deployed location; where the vehicle stays overnight, returns after its route, or is parked when it is not working.

“Earned interest” for the purposes of this program means any interest generated from State AQIP funds provided to the Grantee and held in an interest-bearing account.

“Expend” for the purpose of this program means the payment of funds on an invoice for an eligible vehicle.

“Exportable power” for the purposes of the program means AC electrical power generated by a commercial plug-in vehicle, typically to power electric tools, lighting, or other accessories at a job site.

“Fleet” means vehicles traveling in California owned by a person, business, non-profit or government agency and consists of one or more vehicles. Vehicles under common ownership or control are considered part of a single fleet even if they are part of different subsidiaries, divisions, or other organizational structures of a company or government agency. A fleet is not a manufacturer, dealership, or leasing company that enters into any agreement with another party to operate the vehicles.

“Fleet size” for the purposes of the HVIP Fleet Size Adjustments and Bulk Purchase Requirement include all vehicles with a GVWR greater than 8,500 lbs under common ownership or control and domiciled in California, including unregistered and inoperable vehicles. Unredeemed HVIP vouchers count toward this total. Starting January 1, 2024, consistent with the Advanced Clean Fleet Regulation, HVIP’s fleet size definition will include ALL vehicles owned directly or under common ownership, including those domiciled or operated outside of California.

HVIP’s fleet size definition for voucher requests placed on or after 1/1/24 will be inclusive of the fleet’s vehicles domiciled anywhere globally that are over 8,500 lbs GVWR, including all such vehicles under common ownership or control, as defined in HVIP’s Implementation Manual.

Fleet size is inclusive of vehicles registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as non-operational, but excluding off-road vehicles, unregistered vehicles, and those registered with the DMV as non-revivable junk or dismantled.

“g/bhp-hr” for the purposes of this program means grams/brake horsepower-hour.

“Grantee” for the purposes of this program means the entity selected by CARB via competitive solicitation to administer HVIP. The responsibilities of the Grantee are described in this Implementation Manual and in the grant agreement between CARB and the Grantee. The Grantee is responsible for ensuring it and its HVIP subcontractors meet all project requirements.

“Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)” for the purposes of this program means the vehicle weight described on the VIN tag or original manufacturer Line Setting Ticket provided to the vehicle dealer.

“Hybrid vehicle” for the purposes of this program means any vehicle that can draw propulsion energy from both of the following on-vehicle sources of stored energy:
1) consumable fuel, and 2) a rechargeable energy storage system.

“Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle” for the purposes of this program means a ZEV that is fueled primarily by hydrogen and does not have plug-in capacity.

“Eligible Engines” for the purposes of this program means any engine certified to the optional Low NOx standard of 0.01 g/bhp-hr as of the publication of this document.

“Incomplete Vehicle” for the purposes of HVIP and as defined by the Federal Transit Administration, “an assemblage of components consisting of, as a minimum, frame and chassis structure, powertrain, steering system, suspension system, and braking system – to the extent that those systems are to be part of a completed vehicle.”

“Incremental cost” for the purposes of this program for new vehicle means the difference in cost between HVIP eligible vehicle and a comparable new conventionally fueled vehicle that would be purchased to perform the same function. For engine vouchers, the incremental cost means the difference in cost between a baseline vehicle/engine and vehicle/engine certified to the standard utilizing the same fuel type.
This cost is determined on a case-by-case basis based upon a manufacturer’s HVIP eligibility application submittal, HVIP voucher redemption data, discussions with fleets and other stakeholders, and other relevant data and information.

“In-kind services” for the purposes of this program means payments or contributions made in the form of goods and services, rather than direct monetary contributions.

“Lessor Entity,” an entity, often a financial institution, that holds the lease on an HVIP-funded vehicle

“Line setting ticket” for the purposes of this program means the factory build or construction sheet created when the vehicle order is sent to the vehicle manufacturer. The Line Setting Ticket typically includes the new vehicle’s VIN, all the codes for standard equipment and options the salesman used to create this vehicle for his purchaser. After the factory assembles the vehicle and the vehicle is shipped and sold, the Line Setting Ticket identifies such things as the gross vehicle weight rating, engine type, transmission type, drive line, paint codes, gear ratio, and standard and optional equipment, specific to that vehicle.

“Match funding” for the purposes of this program, means those funds contributed by the Grantee directly to HVIP for the sole purposes of funding additional vehicles or increasing the vehicle voucher amount.

“Non-profit” or “Non-profit agency” for the purposes of this program means an agency or corporation that does not distribute corporate income to shareholders and is exempt from federal income taxes under Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C.A. § 501). Non-profits are categorized as private entities in HVIP.

“Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle” (also known as a Grid-connected HEV or GHEV) means a hybrid electric vehicle that has:

• zero emission vehicle range capability
• on-board electrical energy storage device with useful capacity equivalent to greater than or equal to ten miles of Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule range on electricity alone
• is equipped with an on-board charger, and
• is rechargeable from an external connection to an off-board electrical source.

“Public fleet” for the purposes of this program includes all federal, state, city and government fleets plus public universities, public airports, public school districts, California public ports and special districts such as water, utility, and irrigation districts.

“Public transit bus” for the purposes of this program means an on-road vehicle greater than 14,000 pounds GVWR, owned or operated by a city or county government; a transportation district / transit district; or a public agency. Public transit includes paratransit and microtransit services operated by or on behalf of a public transit agency, but not shuttle buses with restricted services including but not limited to airport shuttles, university shuttles, and prisoner transport shuttles.

“Purchaser” for the purposes of HVIP is the fleet or individual owner / operator who will operate the vehicle for a minimum of three years after voucher redemption, whether through lease or direct purchase. A purchaser is not a manufacturer, dealership, or leasing company that enters into any agreement with another party to operate the vehicle.

“Manufacturer recommended minimum state-of-charge” for the purposes of this program means the minimum allowable battery capacity recommended by the battery manufacturer to ensure the most efficient and durable battery operation, as a percent of the maximum battery capacity.

“Refuse vehicle” For the purposes of HVIP, refuse vehicles are defined a vehicles that collect garbage as a front load, rear load, side load, or other form of garbage packer truck; and not be a roll-off or other form of waste transfer vehicle.

“Renewable fuel” for the purposes of this program is comprised of definitions of alternative fuels from the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), California Code of Regulations Section 95481. Section 95481(79) defines transportation fuel as any fuel used or intended for use as a motor vehicle fuel or for transportation purposes in a non-vehicular source. For HVIP, transportation fuel, as defined above, must satisfy Section 95481(11) that defines Bio-CNG as biogas-derived biomethane which has been compressed to CNG. Additionally, fuel may be produced out-of-state as defined in Section 95481(66) that defines Producer as the entity that made or prepared the fuel. This definition of Producer includes “out-of-state” producers where the production facility is out of the State of California and the entity has opted into the LCFS pursuant to section 95483.1. As more engines that use renewable fuels other than renewable natural gas become available, CARB will expand this definition to include those renewable fuels.

“Repower” for the purposes of this program means the replacement of an existing engine with a new engine certified to any tier of the Optional emission standard approved by CARB instead of rebuilding the existing engine to its original specifications.

“Small Fleet” A small fleet is defined as a public fleet that has 20 or fewer medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) vehicles or private fleets with 20 or fewer MHD vehicles and less than $15 million in annual revenue.

HVIP’s fleet size definition for voucher requests placed on or after 1/1/24 will be inclusive of the fleet’s vehicles domiciled anywhere globally that are over 8,500 lbs GVWR, including all such vehicles under common ownership or control, as defined in HVIP’s Implementation Manual.

Fleet size is inclusive of vehicles registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as non-operational, but excluding off-road vehicles, unregistered vehicles, and those registered with the DMV as non-revivable junk or dismantled.

“Telematics” for the purposes of this program means a data acquisition system capable of collecting vehicle GPS data, vehicle mileage and hours of operation.

“Truck Equipment Manufacturer (TEM)” for the purposes of this program means a company that installs equipment on a truck or bus chassis. The TEM bears full responsibility for any vehicle defects under federal law and is responsible for certifying that the vehicle meets all applicable federal safety standards.

“UDDS” means urban dynamometer driving schedule as set forth Appendix I of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 86.

“Vehicle Type,” listed in Voucher Processing Center and Vehicle Catalog: ePTO, Heavy Duty Bus, Medium Duty Bus, Refuse, School Bus, Step / Panel Van, Straight Truck, Tractor

“Zero-emission power take-off (ePTO)” for the purposes of this program means a method for taking power from an on-vehicle source (typically a battery) that produces no emissions of pollutants (including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and particulates) and which can be used to power truck mounted hydraulic, pneumatic or electric work equipment utilized for performing stationary work.

“Zero-emission vehicle (ZEV)” means a vehicle that itself produces no emissions of pollutants (including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and particulates) when stationary or operating.

“Zero-Emission Vehicle Conversions” for the purpose of this program means removing any type of existing propulsion system and replacing it with a zero-emission propulsion system, such as battery or hydrogen fuel cell powered electric powertrain/drivetrain.