As it stands now compressed natural gas or CNG vehicles that are the current clean air darlings – under debatable assumptions about how clean natural gas really is and how it is produced – are all conversions of mostly Detroit Three pickup trucks and vans with one factory-made exception.
On the first of July hybrid vehicles carrying the so called “yellow sticker” in California can no longer use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) highway lanes with a single driver. They can continue to use the time-saving lanes if there are two or more people inside of course. Thus ends another episode of the California government using its power to pick 85,000 Ford, Honda and Toyota vehicle owners as winners instead of allowing market forces to operate.
However, as the hybrid favoritism fades in memory, new auto winners are being picked for single driver HOV access from now until 2015. Two classes of vehicles are favored by law this time around – natural gas, and in a sequel of a previous legislative folly, electric vehicles. Still to come next year will be another class of favorites – plug-in hybrids, but the list of government picked winners hasn’t been published yet. (For more information and a complete list of qualifying clean air vehicles, go to: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm#FAQ.)
As it stands now compressed natural gas or CNG vehicles that are the current clean air darlings – under debatable assumptions about how clean natural gas really is and how it is produced under exemptions from government environmental regulations – are all conversions of mostly Detroit Three pickup trucks and vans with one factory-made exception. The current Civic GX CNG- powered Civic and the all-new Civic Natural Gas model – at $25,000 – will continue to have access to the HOV highway lane until January 2015. Honda is the only automaker currently selling in the United States a dedicated CNG-powered light duty vehicle designed and manufactured for retail sale. As an Inherently Low Emissions Vehicle (ILEV), the Civic Natural Gas qualifies for White Clean Air Vehicle decals, which are available in an unlimited quantity.
Then there are electric cars. Currently the Nissan Leaf, Smart ForTwo, Tesla roadster and the Think City will have single driver HOV access from now until 2015. It’s going to be tough to get a Think though. The Norwegian company filed for bankruptcy last month for the fourth time in its history. There goes the marketplace intruding upon government regulations again…
Let me see if I’ve got this straight: CARB believes in global warming, which supposedly is drying up reservoirs, the output from which to drive hydro power therefore is reduced, so less electricity is generated, therefore the solution is to push electric cars. Huh?
Not a perfect system, but, as usual, California is dragging the rest of you, kicking and screaming, into a better future.
It’s a twelve step program. Now, if we could only get our own shit together. Perhaps when we are through saving you from yourselves, you can do the same for us!
Our next goal – getting a minority, say, perhaps, an Episcopalian, as president.
Wait! We did that already. OK, how about a Hawaiian. Shit, no, we’ve done that too. OK, how about an illiterate Texan? An Illiterate Alaskan? Man, it is starting to look like an illiterate Minnesotan if we want change.