Now that the federal plug-in tax credit has begun to wind down on the U.S.-made Chevrolet Bolt EV, members of Congress propose to do something about it. Democrats have proposed several bills in Congress to remove the manufacturer-based 200,000-car cap on the credits and extending them for 10 years, and a new proposal by California Democrat Ro... Commentary: Overdue for reform, EV tax credit needs reasonable limits
Now that the federal plug-in tax credit has begun to wind down on the U.S.-made Chevrolet Bolt EV, members of Congress propose to do something about it. Democrats have proposed several bills in Congress to remove the manufacturer-based 200,000-car cap on the credits and extending them for 10 years, and a new proposal by California Democrat Ro...
Nobody likes paying gas taxes, and that seems particularly true for drivers who don't buy gas—such as those who drive electric cars. As legislators have begun to notice more electric cars on the roads, more of them have become concerned about their drivers not buying gas—and so not paying any gas taxes. According to a new editorial by...
In the U.S., California has long been viewed culturally as the crazy, free-spirited cousin. As Californians like to point out, their state of 40 million people is also the world's sixth-largest economy all by itself. Resolutely progressive, it has regulated vehicle emissions for five decades and worked to get zero-emission vehicles onto its roads...
U.S. visitors to European cities, especially capitals like Paris and Rome and Madrid and London, often remark how different they are from those in the U.S. Many of their historic cores, dating back far before automobiles existed, remain intact—and for much of the 20th century, they coexisted uncomfortably with those cars and trucks. Now...
The most important green-car story of 2017 came on September 10, in a report by the Associated Press that covered articles in two Chinese state media outlets on a statement by a deputy industry minister. Speaking at "an auto industry forum," the AP wrote, Xin Guobin said his ministry has begun "research on formulating a timetable to stop...
China made headlines around the world on Sunday when state media reported that the country is developing a timetable to end production and sales of new vehicles with gasoline engines. While Norway, The Netherlands, France, and the U.K. have adopted various timetables for various versions of such a ban, China is both the world's most populous...
The auto industry has now grudgingly accepted that battery-electric cars will make up some portion of the world's new vehicles in years to come. But a milestone in that trend may have come today, in news from China. Policy makers in the world's most populous country, and largest car market, are developing a timetable to end production and sales of...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the country's leader, has detailed why she believes electric-car quotas are not a viable answer to emission and other issues plaguing Europe. Merkel, a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, instead urged a much bigger-picture strategy, rather than a demand that more Europeans simply move to...
To most North Americans, the idea of banning all vehicles with internal-combustion engines seems unthinkable. Filling up with gasoline (or diesel) is as American as are dispersed low-density suburbs without mass transit, bike paths, or even sidewalks. Europeans, more of whom live in cities and most of whom have access to a more balanced set of...
It's long been official policy for China that the country's automakers will become the world's highest-volume producer of electric cars. (It also intends to dominate lithium-ion battery cells and photovoltaic solar panels, for the record.) But the government policies and incentives to achieve that goal have often changed over the years. DON'T...
Carlos Ghosn, the man behind the Nissan Leaf electric car and now the chairman of the Renault Nissan Alliance, isn't the first to say it. But his recent comment that cities are driving the push for electric cars is an important one, because it indicates a prime market for their advantages. The result is that city governments all over the world are...
China is the biggest new-car market in the world, and has been since 2010. The world's largest country also has some of the smoggiest cities on the planet, and that's a source of increasing public agitation. So at national, state, and local levels, a variety of Chinese government entities are using carrots and sticks to encourage the sale of more...
Last week, the California state legislature approved a $52 billion transportation-funding package. Unlike the practice in previous years, this one is to be used only for improvements to the transportation infrastructure, to begin cutting into an estimated $ 130 billion backlog of repairs and expansions. As a result of the new bill, owners of...
If plug-in electric cars and trucks receive purchase incentives from national and state governments, what about electric bicycles? That's just what a recent report from the European Cyclists Federation suggests. It recommends directing purchase incentives and infrastructure subsidies towards electrically assisted bicycles, known as e-bikes...
The California Air Resources Board voted Friday to confirm its stricter emissions standards for 2025, setting up a potential clash with the Trump Administration. The CARB vote reaffirms a decision by the EPA in the waning days of the Obama Administration to lock in emissions standards for vehicles in model years 2022 through 2025. Under Trump, the...
California leads the nation in policies that promote reductions of carbon emissions from road vehicles. It is unique in having a federal waiver that allows it to set its own, stricter emissions standards, along with a zero-emission vehicle mandate that requires automakers reaching certain sales volumes to sell a certain number of cars without...
Automaker lobbyists continue to push back against the stricter fuel-economy and emissions standards scheduled to take effect in the U.S. over the next decade. Many of their arguments center on costs—not only to the carmakers themselves, but also to car buyers. Regulators and automakers together acknowledge that complying with tougher...
New York state has finally issued details on its effort to step up its efforts to promote electric cars. The Empire State is one of eight so-called "ZEV states" that have adopted California emissions standards. But New York does not mandate automakers to sell zero-emission vehicles within its borders, and currently does not offer purchase...
As the old saying goes: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The biofuel and fossil-fuel lobbies have argued in the past over the blending of biofuels with the general fuel supply. But now the two groups have found something they can agree on. DON'T MISS: Sierra Club to sue EPA over failure to report on ethanol A U.S. biofuel-lobbying group is...
California leads the way when it comes to electric-car adoption in the U.S. That's due in large part to a zero-emission vehicle mandate that requires the largest-volume automakers to sell cars without tailpipes, combined with a generous state purchase incentive that encourages residents to buy them. But local governments have also played an...