California ZEV goals

I’d like to share the vivid concluding comments by California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols for item 14-8-5 at their meeting last week in Diamond Bar (Los Angeles), re-articulating California’s zero-emissions vehicle goals, and politely but specifically disagreeing with board member Dan Sperling’s promotion of a more gradual approach. It begins at about 6:05:50 on the video archive.

I fundamentally disagree with my colleague Dan Sperling about how we’re going to get to where we want to go. … I think we should be driven … by a desire to solve a problem, which is the unacceptable amount of air pollution and greenhouse emissions that are coming from our transportation sector.

… the ZEV mandate is fundamentally a simple goal, it is a vision of where we’re trying to get to … by 2030, 100% of the vehicles sold in California had better be essentially zero-emission vehicles, looked at on a life-cycle basis, and by the time we get to 2050 we’ve got to change the whole fleet. Now there’s things we can do to get more people to use transit, have bike-able walkable communities, …”

Above is a photo of their outside display of one of about every ZEV currently made – BEV and FCV automobiles, BEV and FCV buses, a BEV UPS delivery van, and two heavy truck cabs.

You can also see my testimony on this item at about 4:57:00.

Good news and bad news for Tesla fans

First, and most importantly if you are considering leasing one, really good news comes via Tuesday's Wall Street Journal (Oct. 28). Mike Ramsey writes that thanks to an agreement with U.S. Bank, lease rates will drop as much as 25%.

That's a considerable amount considering that the iconic car company's only car, the Model S, leases for $777 to $1,271 a month. You may still have to wait for a vehicle, though, as the model “is currently back-ordered until December, according to a company sales representative.” However, as one might expect, the plunging price of gas has not exactly provided a great incentive to spur sales.

A barrel of oil traded in the U.S. for about $81 on Monday, 23% less than at the end of June—leading the national average price of a gallon of gasoline to hover around $3 a gallon. Lower fuel prices weaken the business case for the sale of electric cars that don’t require gasoline or diesel for propulsion.

However, plunging gas prices can not entirely be blamed for the 26% drop-off in Tesla sales through September, compared with the same period last year.

“I would attribute the sales decline to the Model S being a niche product that has probably temporarily satiated demand, somewhat exacerbated by falling gas prices,” Haig Stoddard, a WardsAuto analyst, said.

I'm not particularly sure that Tesla buyers are all that tuned to gas prices, at least to the same level that say other EV car buyers would be. What do you think? Would love to hear from you if:

• You own a Tesla
• You are considering buying/leasing a Tesla - in that case - any thoughts on the reduced leasing costs?

[Full access to the Wall Street Journal article  for non-subscribers will work for seven days from Oct. 28]