{"id":2444164,"date":"2019-05-14T10:22:20","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T16:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=305804"},"modified":"2019-05-14T10:22:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T16:22:20","slug":"automakers-urge-voluntary-plan-as-colorado-goes-forward-on-electric-vehicle-emission-standards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/automakers-urge-voluntary-plan-as-colorado-goes-forward-on-electric-vehicle-emission-standards\/","title":{"rendered":"Automakers urge voluntary plan as Colorado goes forward on electric vehicle emission standards"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tesla charging stations at the Outlets at Silverthorne have been in place since October 2013.<\/strong>
Hugh Carey\/Summit Daily News<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As Colorado moves forward with its plans to adopt a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) standard to reduce smog and combat climate change, a coalition of automakers, petroleum interests and business groups is pushing the state to consider a voluntary electric vehicle plan rather than a mandate.<\/p>\n

One of the first moves by Gov. Jared Polis following his inauguration in January was an executive order<\/a> directing state public health and environment officials to begin the process of making Colorado the 10th state with a ZEV standard \u2014 and the first that\u2019s not on either coast.<\/p>\n

Colorado already adopted a Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standard<\/a> late last year \u2014 a process started under Polis predecessor Gov. John Hickenlooper to counter Trump administration emission rollbacks<\/a> \u2014 but had not yet taken the next, more ambitious step of signing onto ZEV.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Colorado\u2019s Air Quality Control Commission voted unanimously to move ahead with public hearings on the ZEV standard in August. The dates and locations of those hearings will be made public by May 25 and sent to anyone on the AQCC<\/a> mailing list.<\/p>\n

Political fight over ZEV standard<\/h3>\n

The ZEV standard mandates auto manufacturers sell a certain percentage of electric vehicles (EVs) in a ZEV state, and in Colorado, that means nearly 5 percent of all new cars sold by 2023.<\/p>\n

California already had stricter vehicles emission standards when the federal Clean Air Act went into effect in the 1960s, so it was issued a waiver. States that opt out of lower federal standards and adopt the California rules require automakers to obtain ZEV credits depending on how many vehicles they sell in a state. ZEV includes both plug-in electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.  <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tying us to standards made in California for California drivers and California conditions,\u201d said Kelly Sloan of the Freedom to Drive<\/a> business, automaker and petroleum coalition. \u201cThe problem of course is those don\u2019t translate neatly to Colorado. We have different terrain, different weather, we drive longer distances, especially in the rural areas in the west and east (of the state). We use our vehicles for different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sloan adds that manufacturers will simply pass on the added cost of ZEV credits to consumers of larger, gas-powered trucks and SUVs that make more sense in Colorado but aren\u2019t being offered yet in electrified versions.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Vail Democrat and rancher, says agricultural needs and the long hauls of getting kids to ski races in far-flung areas of the Rocky Mountains certainly have to be factored into the ZEV discussion, but she\u2019s not buying the anti-California talking points.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Kerry Donovan says criticism of a Zero Emission Vehicle standard has a familiar ring to it. \u201cLet\u2019s remember solar and wind energy was going to make everything cost more and what has it done? The opposite,\u201d she said. <\/strong>
AP file photo<\/em>
<\/strong>
AP19108715374695-1024\u00d7683<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe know that Californication is a well-tested political saying that started in the last election and they will continue to use as long as it is the sound bite that resonates with voters,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cOf course we have to be cognizant of these rules that are made in a Denver-centric echo chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the sky is falling arguments don\u2019t seem to stand the test of time, because let\u2019s remember solar and wind energy was going to make everything cost more and what has it done? The opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting ahead of the national curve<\/h3>\n

Proponents of the ZEV rule say automakers are rapidly rolling out electrified light trucks and SUVs that are being sent to the nine populous ZEV states like California, Oregon, New York and Massachusetts, which already comprise nearly 40 percent of the nation\u2019s vehicle sales.<\/p>\n

Matthew Shmigelsky, transportation director for the nonprofit Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER<\/a>) in Carbondale, acknowledges the challenges of Colorado\u2019s mountainous geography and winter weather in transitioning to electric vehicles, but he counters those conditions actually support adopting the ZEV standard in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat that means is we need the vehicles that the (manufacturers) are producing to meet that demand,\u201d Shmigelsky said. \u201cAnd they\u2019re not showing up at this point by virtue of the fact that they\u2019re being directed to those markets that have a (ZEV) requirement, so they know they have a defined market that they can sell into and they are delivering those there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shmigelsky cites the electrified Subaru Crosstrek as a vehicle he thinks would be wildly popular if available in Colorado, and he adds that joining the other ZEV states would get Colorado out ahead of the national curve in terms of infrastructure, innovation and the labor force needed to make the inevitable transition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s already such a large portion of the car market that has this standard in place,\u201d Shmigelsky said. \u201cSo, either you join the pack, or you fall behind, essentially.\u201d<\/p>\n

A mandate or a voluntary agreement?<\/h3>\n

But Sloan says that\u2019s artificially creating a market when Colorado is already ahead of the national curve on EV sales (more than 3 percent as of March, which is up from nearly 2 percent in 2017). Sloan acknowledges Polis is pushing hard for ZEV but feels a voluntary approach would work better for the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we have any illusions about (stopping the Polis ZEV push), but if we could potentially get to a place where instead of a stick they use a carrot, we could get away from a mandate distorting the market and [move toward] an agreement that dealerships will offer these vehicles if people will buy them,\u201d Sloan said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers recently proposed to the Polis administration \u2014 a ZEV alternative whereby manufacturers would voluntarily agree to increase the availability of EV models in the state beginning in 2020, step up marketing and assist in building out the state\u2019s charging infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order following his inauguration to direct state public health and environment officials to begin the process of making Colorado the 10th state with a ZEV standard.<\/strong> David Zalubowski|AP<\/em>
<\/strong>
Electriccars-VDN-051419-2-1024\u00d7706<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The state issued a response to the AAM<\/a> proposal late last week<\/p>\n

\u201cColorado is committed to a fast, large-scale shift towards electric vehicles,\u201d Will Toor, director of the Colorado Energy Office, said in a press release. \u201cThis is essential to cleaning up the ozone pollution in the Front Range and tackling climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The current timeline of the proposed ZEV standard doesn\u2019t kick in until 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are open to considering an alternative path to a ZEV standard, but only if it is going to get more EVs on the road earlier and faster,\u201d Toor added. \u201cIn the meantime, we urge the AQCC to move forward with the ZEV rulemaking, to keep us on track for timely adoption of a ZEV standard if we are unable to reach an agreement that would accelerate adoption even faster than a regulatory standard.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tesla charging stations at the Outlets at Silverthorne have been in place since October 2013.Hugh Carey\/Summit Daily News As Colorado moves forward with its plans to adopt a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) standard to reduce smog and combat climate change, a coalition of automakers, petroleum interests and business groups is pushing the state to consider […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2444164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 05:00:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}