Testifying before the California Air Resources Board last week, Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s Vice President of Business Development, argued that tactics by automakers had delayed gains in average fuel economy in the United States by 20 years. “Automakers, including General Motors, have been able to delay improvements for decades because they are not required to,” Mr. O’Connell said. California originally aimed for 2% of all cars sold within the state to be ZEV vehicles by 1998; instead that goal has only recently been met, 16 years later. O’Connell told the Board that the state’s current ZEV mandate is “fundamentally too weak” as it only proposes to add 42,000 ZEVs by 2025, whereas Tesla alone plans to deliver 40,000 ZEVs in California by that date. He added that state incentives should focus on promoting more installation of electric car charging stations at business locations.
Testifying before the California Air Resources Board last week, Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s Vice President of Business Development, argued that tactics by automakers had delayed gains in average fuel economy in the United States by 20 years. He also said the same kind of tactics were responsible for delaying California’s zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) standards by 16 years. California originally aimed for 2% of all cars sold within the state to be ZEV vehicles by 1998; instead that goal has only recently been met, 16 years later. O’Connell told the Board that the state’s current ZEV mandate is “fundamentally too weak” as it only proposes to add 42,000 ZEVs by 2025, whereas Tesla alone plans to deliver 40,000 ZEVs in California by that date. He added that state incentives should focus on promoting more installation of electric car charging stations at business locations.