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Plug In America Urges State Air Regulators to Redirect Funding To Plug-in Vehicles
Plug Ins will deliver greenhouse gas reductions five years earlier than fuel cell vehicles

In
a push to accelerate the use of clean vehicles, Plug In America is
urging state air regulators to immediately redirect resources and
funding toward Electric Vehicles (EV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric
Vehicles (PHEV), thousands of which are slated for delivery in less than
12 months, and away from fuel cell vehicles.

The California Air
Resources Board (CARB) is meeting today to discuss proposed changes to
its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulation which are designed to reduce
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25% and 80% by 2020 and 2050,
respectively.

But the flawed revisions, contained in a White
Paper, highlight CARB’s unbalanced spending priorities, which allocate
more than 75% of staff and program funding toward development of fuel
cell vehicles. Even in a best-case scenario, this technology will not
reach the market for more than five years, according to CARB itself.

Just
as world leaders meeting in Copenhagen realize the imperative of taking
swift action to fight climate change, so must the state air board
prioritize support for the clean vehicles that are closest to showroom
delivery, says Plug In America legislative director Jay Friedland.

“We
cannot afford to wait for far-off, hypothetical technologies which may
or may not contribute to real GHG reductions,” Friedland says. “We urge
the board to immediately reallocate its ZEV program resources so that at
least 75% of its funding supports development and commercialization of
EV and PHEV technologies and charging infrastructure. This will put more
vehicles on the road sooner and accelerate consumer acceptance.”

Thousands
of plug-in vehicles manufactured by GM, Nissan and Tesla are scheduled
for delivery by November 2010. Tens of thousands more such vehicles by
these and other major automakers are expected in 2011.

CARB,
whose initial regulations helped to catapult gas-free cars into
consumers’ garages, has an opportunity to regain a leadership position,
says Plug In America president Dan Davids.

“Major automakers will
be delivering plug-ins to showrooms soon,” Davids says. “The question
is whether CARB will play a significant role in accelerating the
inevitable proliferation and success of these vehicles."

CARB’s ZEV White Paper was crafted by its staff in an ongoing effort to overhaul the regulation by late 2010.

Plug
In America rejects the staff’s assertion that all-electric vehicles are
“limited by vehicle range, weight, and cost” and will likely be adopted
as compact cars for urban use only. These assumptions ignore the
changes in consumer preferences that are expected once the vehicles
arrive in showrooms, as well as improvements in fast-charging
infrastructure and battery technology now underway.

In fact,
Japan’s Nikkei News reported last week that Nissan’s 2015 vehicles will
use a battery with double the capacity of its new Leaf EV at the same
cost. GM has stated that is second-generation Chevy Volt battery will
cost as little as $185-per-kilowatt hour compared to an estimated
$700-per-kilowatt hour in the first Volts the company ships.

Meanwhile,
several private companies are competing to dominate the public-charging
station market and a trade group representing most of the nation's
electric utilities has pledged to aggressively create the infrastructure
to support full-scale commercialization and deployment of plug-ins.

Plug
In America has been protesting CARB’s drastic reductions in funding and
support for plug-in vehicles for more than six years.

"We can
only imagine where we would be if electric car development had continued
after 2003, rather than being subject to a five-year hiatus chasing
after fuel-cell vehicle technology that continues to be delayed," Davids
says.

About Plug In America: Plug In America is leading the
nation’s plug-in vehicle movement. The nonprofit organization works to
accelerate the shift to plug-in vehicles powered by clean, affordable,
domestic electricity to reduce our nation's dependence on petroleum and
improve the global environment. For more information:
www.pluginamerica.org.