During testimony before the California Air Resources Board (ARB, Sacramento, CA), Toyota Motor Sales (Torrance, CA) expressed support for changes to the proposed state regulation that would shift focus from a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate to overall air-quality goals.
"The proposed modifications, coupled with creation of an independent assessment panel to help ARB evaluate propulsion technologies, can help set a new direction and lend greater effectiveness to the ZEV program," said Jim Olson, senior vice president of external and regulatory affairs for Toyota Motor North America.
Olson noted ARB staff efforts to address the shortcomings of pure ZEVs by cutting back the required number of vehicles and filling out the requirement with credits for partial ZEVs such as gasoline/electric hybrids. "Toyota commends this effort to balance demands from various stakeholders," he said, "and we applaud the significant shift in focus to other technologies that we believe have more current and future marketplace promise."
