California Governor Jerry Brown has issued an executive order (B-16-2012) for growing the market for zero emission vehicles (ZEV) including hydrogen fuel cell cars and other vehicles. The ZEV’s included in the executive order are hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
The target is to get 1.5 million ZEV’s on the California roads by the year 2025. This means that four overall goals need to be achieved including completing infrastructure, expanding consumer awareness and demand, transforming government purchased fleet vehicles into ZEVs and growing jobs and investment in the ZEV sector.
According to the 2102 ZEV Action Plan, “By 2015: The state’s major metropolitan areas will be able to accommodate ZEVs through infrastructure plans and streamlined permitting; private investment and manufacturing in the ZEV sector will be growing, and the state’s academic and research institutions will contribute to ZEV market expansion by building understanding of how ZEVs are used.
“By 2020: The State’s ZEV infrastructure will be able to support up to one million vehicles; the costs of ZEVs will be competitive with conventional combustion vehicles; ZEVs will to be accessible to mainstream consumers; and there will be widespread use of ZEVs for public transportation and freight transport.
“By 2025: Over 1.5 million ZEVs will be on California roadways and their market share will be expanding; Californians will have easy access to ZEV infrastructure; the ZEV industry will be a strong and sustainable part of California’s economy; and California’s clean, efficient ZEVs will annually displace at least 1.5 billion gallons of petroleum fuels.”
So there you have it. The Governor of California is not only onboard with fuel cell vehicles, he’s making a call to action to proceed full steam ahead. And full steam in California we shall.
References
http://opr.ca.gov/docs/Draft2012ZEVActionPlan%2809-21-12%29.pdf