California Amps Down Battery Car Rule - Again

Washington DC March 27, 2008; The AIADA newsletter reported that California's clean air regulators voted Thursday to revise state rules that originally directed automakers to put hundreds of thousands of zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2003.

First adopted in 1990, the program was modified in 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2003 – in part to settle an industry lawsuit against it.

The program, called the ZEV mandate, is the subject of a hotly contested and ongoing fight among states, the federal government, and the auto industry. Automotive News says that the main obstacle to the ZEV mandate is that battery-electric vehicle technology has not developed as rapidly or successfully as regulators hoped.

The latest revision to the mandate cuts the number of zero-emission vehicles required in coming years, but board members didn't go as low as some expected. The new requirement is for 7,500 zero-emission vehicles in the period 2012-14.

Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said in a statement, "Today's decision will lead to more green auto choices for consumers now while keeping the pressure on the automotive engineers to continue fine tuning the technologies that will yield an all electric-drive vehicle fleet for California in the near future."