California has handed out 2,000 vouchers to fleets to fund hybrid and battery-electric zero-emission trucks and buses under a grant program overseen by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the board has announced.

The board awarded the milestone voucher under the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) to Chino, Calif.-based Redwood Products, a small business that invested in a clean, low-carbon hybrid delivery truck. The $23,000 voucher awarded to the company will cover close to one-third of the price of a low-carbon Hino hybrid truck. Redwood Products provides mulch, wood chips, and other products to nurseries and the landscape industry in five western states.

Since its launch in 2010, HVIP has provided more than $63 million to help California fleets statewide purchase more than 430 zero-emission trucks and buses and 1,800 hybrid trucks and buses, according to CARB. HVIP is administered by the clean transportation consortium CALSTART.

Most of the vouchers have been awarded to small fleets. The U.S. Navy has received a small number of the vouchers, according to Melanie Turner, the board's public information officer.

The program provides vouchers of up to $95,000 for California purchasers and lessees of zero-emission trucks and buses, and up to $30,000 for eligible hybrid trucks and buses on a first-come, first-serve basis. HVIP also provides incentives of up to $110,000 for zero-emission trucks that provide benefits to disadvantaged communities, CARB added.

In June, CARB approved a $373 million funding plan to cover all investments in advanced technologies for fiscal year 2015-2016, including fleet-eligible rebates for low- and zero-emission passenger vehicles.

Click here for more information about HVIP.