http://www.evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=16660
Quote:
California ARB Staff Proposes Amendments Favoring Electric Cars
Source: ARB
[Nov 14, 2007]
SYNOPSIS: Among the amendments currently proposed by ARB staff is a method for calculating Equivalent All Electric Range to account for a variety of operating strategies for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
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Alternative Path. In 2003, the Board made its most recent amendments to the ZEV program, increasing the ZEV requirement to 16% in 2018. It also defined an alternative path for automaker compliance with the ZEV regulation that was solely designed to advance the commercialization of fuel-cell vehicles. Also, the credit system was adjusted so that one fuel cell vehicle garnered the same credits as 10 battery-electric vehicles. Under the Alt Path, automakers are required to produce their sales-weighted market share of a target number of vehicles during four multi-year implementation phases. With fuel-cell vehicle development not proceeding as expected, ARB has been grappling with whether or not to ease the requirements.
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It wasn't until recently that I understood the role of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) played in distorting new car technologies with the hydrogen fuel-cell fraud. Now the effort to favor fuel-cells had started before they made their decision, it wasn't as if they invented the idea that one fuel-cell vehicle equals 10 regular vehicles. If they'd only insisted that the fuel-cell vehicles had to have 10 times the payload as a regular vehicle, basically small buses, we'd all be happy.
Oh well, no form of new technology proceeds in a straight line without the occasional 'dead end' and spectacular failure. Museums are full of such efforts and are part of how our species moves forward. So I'm not surprised that CARB is making another adjustment, bringing policy inline with reality.
Bob Wilson