California regulators substantially reduced the number of zero emission vehicles (ZEV) the six major car companies must sell in the state by 2014.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a proposal yesterday to reduce by 70% the number of electric and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles that was originally set for a 2003 deadline.
Now the car companies, which said they could not meet the deadline, will have to produce only 7,500 of the ZEV vehicles by 2014, a shift that has upset environmentalists.
"We are disappointed. We think this proposal doesn’t take us on the road to meeting the state’s long-term global warming goals," said Spencer Quong, a senior vehicles analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
However, CARB did shift the demands on the car manufacturers, requiring them to sell 60,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles (a low-emissions technology), while developing the zero-emissions vehicles.
The six manufacturers affected are Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Honda, Chrysler and Nissan.
The decision is expected to trickle down to 12 other states that had adopted California’s target for the zero-emissions vehicle.
Referring to the plug-in hybrids, which have yet to come on the market, board charwoman Mary Nichols said, "We’re introducing a whole new category of vehicles to the public. I don’t think it’s a step backwards in the real world."
California initially adopted its zero-emission vehicle mandate in 1990 as part of an attempt to reduce smog-forming emissions such as nitrogen oxide.
The rule required that 10% of new cars sold in the state by the country’s six leading auto manufacturers be completely nonpolluting by 2003.
The rules have been modified four times since they were introduced.
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