WASHINGTON, D.C. – The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted March 27 to triple the number of zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) proposed for production by automakers from 2012 through 2014. CARB staff members originally proposed a requirement of 2,500 vehicles but the board increased this to 7,500.
CARB also maintained the portion of the program that allows flexibility for automakers in their alternative fuel programs. There is an option for automakers to produce fewer ZEVs – 5,357, if they classify as long-range fuel vehicles – or they can opt to satisfy the requirement by manufacturing 12,500 battery-electric vehicles with a range of 100 miles. The board also requires an additional 66,000 plug-in hybrids during the same period; however, if the automakers produce 25,000 ZEVs, there are no remaining plug-in hybrid requirements.
Mary Nichols, CARB chairman and former assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has also encouraged CARB’s staff to work toward overhauling the ZEV program for 2015 to work more effectively with other board tailpipe emissions programs such as those addressing greenhouse gas emissions and the low-emissions vehicle program. The ZEV program was created in 1990 to encourage technological advancements in the automotive industry to produce more clean cars in California.
