California - Closer to Zero Emission Cars

August 10, 2003 – Vol.8 No.20

CALIFORNIA - CLOSER TO ZERO EMISSION CARS?

The big news from California this week had nothing to do with another actor possibly becoming governor of the state. It’s that that state’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate will probably now go ahead unhindered, but watered down and convoluted.

The lawsuits from General Motors, Daimler-Chrysler and Isuzu, which were preventing the mandate from moving forward, have been dropped. But what remains from years and years of negotiations is an extremely complex ruling that could work more in favor of automakers than the citizens of the state.

When the ruling was first created in 1990 only battery-powered cars would meet the mandate as zero-emission vehicles. Now there are many vehicle technology options that vehicle makers want included - fuel cell, hybrid, plug-in hybrids (that can power a home, or sell power to the grid or community), neighborhood electric vehicles, ultra low-emission vehicles, and others - all of which seemed to make their way into the final say.

Thus, some of the technologies that get special consideration in the ruling may create an opening for automakers to introduce new technologies to motorists in the name of cleaner air. For example, General Motors announced this week that it has developed hub motors (electric drive motors that fit inside a vehicle’s wheel) that could be used to develop more hybrid vehicles, more applications for all wheel drive vehicles (two wheels driven by the combustion engine, two by the electric hub motors) and the possibility of wheels that steer 90 degrees (for aid in parallel parking, the car moves side-ways into a parking spot).

But, aside from using the opportunity to introduce new technologies, why would the automakers drop their legal actions? General Motors claimed it didn’t like the bad public relations it was getting by stalling, but also GM and others may be feeling pressure from the likes of Honda and Toyota which clearly have the lead in advanced technology vehicles.

For automakers, California cannot be ignored. It‘s the fifth largest economy in the world and has about 24 million registered vehicles on the road. That’s a lot of cars, a lot of sales. Visit the California Air Resources Board at http://www.arb.ca.gov/ , General Motors media http://www.media.gm.com/ (see Full List of Releases)