California Governor Jerry Brown signed a package of bills boosting the state’s market for electric cars, including a measure to make such vehicles more affordable for low-income residents.
The legislations are meant to make electric cars affordable in low-income communities and to achieve a target of having 1.5 million zero emission vehicles in California by 2025.
The new plans encourage the usage of clean-air vehicles by granting free access or access at reduced rates to high-occupancy toll lanes. Commercial and real estate owners will be able to approve installation of electric vehicle charging stations, as long as it meets requirements.
California already has more electric cars on its roads than any other state, with an estimated 40 percent of all electric cars sold in the United States driven by the state’s residents. Earlier this month, the Plug-in Electric Vehicle Collaborative, a coalition of advocacy groups and car manufacturers, announced that more than 100,000 plug-in cars had been sold in the state during the last four years.
Capping off National Drive Electric Week, Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed half a dozen bills to strengthen California’s best-in-the-nation electric vehicle market.
The Governor signed the following bills:
– AB 1721 by Assemblymember Eric F. Linder (R-Corona): Grants free or reduced-rates in high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes to clean air vehicles.
– AB 2013 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance): Increases to 70,000 the number of advanced technology partial zero-emission vehicles that may be allowed in high-occupancy vehicle lanes, regardless of occupancy level.
– AB 2090 by Assemblymember Paul Fong (D-San Jose): Repeals the level of service requirements on HOT lanes for the San Diego Association of Governments and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, and directs them to work with the California Department of Transportation to develop appropriate performance measures.
– AB 2565 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance): Requires commercial and residential property owners to approve installation of an electric vehicle charging station by renters, so long as the station meets requirements.
– SB 1275 by Senator Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles): Creates the Charge Ahead California Initiative, which provides incentives to increase the availability of zero emission vehicles in low-income communities.
– SB 1298 by Senator Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina): Makes the pilot projects for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s operation of HOT lanes on State Highway Routes 10 and 110 permanent.
