California’s Air Resources Board has been the driving force behind a patchwork of state-by-state emissions regulations, but CARB could be taking a step back from its original proposal. On Monday, Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols announced she would consider regional requirements rather than state-by-state standards.
Automakers and dealerships have widely contested California’s emissions standards — which have been adopted by 13 states — as they would cause a patchwork of regulations that would make it nearly impossible for automakers to comply with. California enacted its emissions standards in 2002, which would require an automaker’s fleet to average 36.8 mpg by 2016. Current CAFE standards call for a 35 mpg average by 2020.
If California is allowed to set its own standards — along with the states that have adopted California’s standards — most automakers would be unable to sell the majority of their lineup in those states. GM has already said that the regulations would prevent it from selling about 80 percent of its vehicles in those markets and would significantly increase all vehicle pricing, according to The Detroit News. The patchwork would also force automakers to make several different variations of a single model, which would also drive up prices.
Dealers in California are also concerned because the regulations would encourage buyers to purchase larger vehicles from less stringent states.
However, Nichols says that the automakers and dealers are over-playing the standards and that “a little bit of creative repackaging” is all the automakers need to do to meet the regulations. She added: “We’re not talking about pushing beyond the limits of what the industry can do.”
CARB’s proposed standards seem a little on the extreme side, especially when you consider this is the same organization that killed its ZEV Mandate due to pressure from the automakers just a few years ago. We can only imagine how far along the electric car would be today if CARB hadn’t backed down from its original mandate.
