The public meeting is the latest event in a series that began at the March 2008 Board meeting (earlier post), when the ARB adopted resolution 08-24 directing ARB staff:

• To review the low emission vehicle (LEV), Pavley, and ZEV programs, keeping in mind the need to reduce criteria pollutant emissions, climate change emissions, and dependence on petroleum;

• Strengthen the ZEV program for model years 2015 and subsequent years;

• Focus on zero emission vehicles and enhanced advanced technology partial zero emission vehicles (enhanced AT PZEVs);

• Ensure California is the center of ZEV commercialization development; and

• Return to the Board by the end of 2009.

ARB staff has published a white paper summarizing possible changes to the ZEV regulation along with attachments on ZEV technology status, a 2050 GHG analysis, and complimentary policies, all available electronically on ARB’s program website.

Very broadly, ARB staff is making a number of major recommendation to the Board:

• Partial Zero Emission Vehicles (PZEVs), now a part of the ZEV regulation, are commercial, and can be removed from the ZEV regulation (effective in 2014). Their emission benefits are appropriately considered in next summer’s revision to the LEV criteria emission standards (LEV III).

• Advanced Technology PZEVs (AT-PZEVs, e.g., hybrids), now a part of the ZEV regulation, are commercial, and can be removed from the ZEV regulation (effective in 2017). Their emission benefits are appropriately considered in next summer’s revision to the LEV GHG emission standards (Pavley 2).

• The focus of the ZEV regulation should be shifted to address GHG emission reductions as well as criteria pollutants emission reductions. An important new goal for the ZEV program should be to help assure the transformation to very low carbon-emitting vehicles occurs in the timeframe necessary to meet the Governor’s 2050 target of an 80% reduction in GHGs compared to 1990 levels.

• The goal of the revised ZEV program should be to help demonstration-stage, low-GHG emitting technologies to commercialization, include fuel cell vehicles (FCVs); battery-electric vehicles (BEVs); and Enhanced AT PZEVs, which currently include plug-in HEVs (PHEV) and hydrogen internal combustion engine (HICE) vehicles.

  Following the successful mechanisms used to facilitate commercialization of PZEVs and AT PZEVs, the regulation would move ZEVs and Enhanced AT PZEVs from demonstration volumes, meaning hundreds (100s) and thousands (1,000s) per year, through pre-commercial volumes, meaning tens of thousands (10,000s) per year, to commercialization, meaning hundreds of thousands (100,000s) per year.

  Once this is achieved, the ZEV regulation would no longer be needed, and like the PZEV and AT PZEV technologies, they could be considered in setting future LEV performance-based emission standards.

• The proposed structure and stringency of the revised ZEV program will depend in part on the Board’s decision on establishing more stringent GHG standards for the overall fleet, next summer, (i.e., Pavley II) and how well it places on the path to meeting an 80% reduction in GHG emissions by 2050.

• The staff intends to further evaluate incentive and regulatory policies that can assure adequate fueling infrastructure is available for to support the commercialization of ZEVs.

• The staff will also evaluate the adequacy of incentives to encourage purchase of ZEVs, and will recommend to the Board what complementary policies best support implementation of the ZEV program.

Resources

• 2009 Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Program Review