Dive Brief:
- A bill that would have authorized $3 billion in funding for electric vehicle incentives has been radically rewritten by the California Legislature, and now calls for state's Air Resources Board to conduct a lengthy study on the issue of EV rebates.
- The report would be due in early 2019, and the bill specifies that CARB may contract with a third party for the preparation of the report.
- The bill, AB 1184, is part of California's goal of getting 5 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.
Dive Insight:
The California Legislature essentially punted the question of EV support over to CARB, calling for a report "regarding the operation of the vehicle incentive programs."
The proposed law as now written directs CARB to include in the study both the funding levels necessary to support continuous, year-round operation of each of its zero-emission vehicle and near-zero emission vehicle incentive programs, as well as "changes to the zero-emission vehicle incentive programs that are necessary to increase market penetration of zero-emission vehicles."
According to the Los Angeles Times, there were concerns over the bill in its original form, as it did not specify how the incentives would be funded and other parts were not specific enough in policy.
The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Phil Ting, with Advanced Energy Economy as a co-sponsor.
California has less than a half million zero emissions vehicles on its roads — significantly fewer than Gov. Jerry Brown's goal of reaching 1.5 million by 2025 and 5 million by 2030.Lawmakers in the state have been examining ways to increase the number of EVs on the road, as the state's major utilities have filed plans to grow the resource, including a significant buildout of charging stations.
