 backgrounder
California's Zero Emission Vehicle Program
In 1990, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) recognized that California would not be able to clean up its serious air pollution without putting cleaner cars on the road. CARB established the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program in 1990 to meet health-based air quality goals. Since then, several northeastern states have decided to adopt California's LEV program (including the ZEV program) in place of less stringent federal tailpipe standards. The ZEV program was designed to catalyze the commercialization of advanced-technology vehicles that would not have any tailpipe or evaporative emissions. Originally, the ZEV program required that 2 percent of new vehicles produced for sale in 1998 and 10 percent of new vehicles produced for sale in 2003 would be zero emission vehicles. The automakers convinced CARB that they could not meet the 1998 deadline, and full implementation of the program was delayed until 2003. In 2002, automakers sued the state over the program and were granted a preliminary injunction barring its implementation pending a final court ruling. In the midst of the ensuing legal debate, the state decided to go ahead and make revisions to the rule to sidestep the legal challenge, with the aim of restoring the ZEV program by 2005. Despite continuing auto company complaints, the ZEV program has been very effective in pushing the development of less-polluting automotive technologies. Advances in electric drivetrain components and battery storage have made possible the introduction of hybrid vehicles and are contributing to the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, which also utilize an electric motor and drivetrain system. The development of zero emission vehicles has also prompted automakers to develop much less polluting gasoline-powered vehicles. A Continuing Challenge Today, more than 90 percent of Californians live in areas where the air quality does not meet federal health-based standards. Cars and trucks powered by gasoline and diesel are the single largest source of California's air pollution. And the number of motor vehicles and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) are expected to increase dramatically in the next several decades. Despite advances in tailpipe technology, conventional gasoline-powered vehicles will never be pollution-free. The ZEV program is critical to improving California's air quality and prevent backsliding as the number of vehicles and VMT continue to increase. What Is a Zero Emission Vehicle? A vehicle that has: - No tailpipe emissions
- No evaporative emissions
- No emissions from gasoline refining or sales
- No onboard emission-control systems that can deteriorate over time
The only cars on the market today that are true zero emission vehicles are battery-powered electric vehicles. They emit no pollution from the tailpipe and can be zero emission from their power source if they recharge using clean, renewable energy. Fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel are currently in the development stages and will also qualify as true ZEVs. Partial ZEV Credit
When the ZEV program was first implemented, the battery-powered electric car was the only vehicle technology that qualified for credit toward meeting the program requirements. Since then, a range of new, clean vehicles with extremely low emissions have been developed and will soon be entering the market. To encourage these advanced technologies as a transition to true ZEVs, CARB has decided to broaden the scope of vehicles that qualify under the ZEV program. Two categories of partial ZEVs have been created, one that encourages advanced, near-ZEV technologies such as clean hybrid-electric cars or methanol fuel cells, and one that will bring hundreds of thousands of very clean gasoline-powered cars to California. Maintaining the ZEV Program
California's ZEV program is critical, not only to clean up the air of California and the Northeast, but to push the automakers to develop cleaner, less-polluting technologies that can be used around the country and the world. It is the only program in the United States that is doing so. Automakers and the oil industry will continue to resist the ZEV program and to fight for relaxed standards and deadlines. We need to send a message to CARB to hold the line and maintain the ZEV program. |
