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Gas at the pump may still be fairly cheap here in the USA in
comparison to the rest of the world, but the hidden costs of
occupying foreign countries, and protecting that supply of
gasoline  makes the price much higher, both in money and human
lives.  The CARB is in a unique position to help instigate
positive change, and should not water down any bill that would
push forward the shift from an oil based economy.  

The demand clearly exists for electric vehicles, and the
technology is here right now to make them.  Breakthroughs in
creation and storage are not required, such as the case with
hydrogen fuel cells. yes, battery technology and costs mean that
for a given price EVs might only be good for 80-90% of the
population, but battery technology will only advance more rapidly
once the market is there with the higher demand.  

It will also take time for the changeover to happen, so
advancements in technology will only increase the usefulness of
the vehicles produced, and appeal to ever larger segments.  The
use of exceedingly clean and reliable vehicles will have a
negative impact on the automotive parts, labor, and emissions
testing jobs market. However, as owners of EVs realize that if
they produce their own electricity they can do better than driver
cheaper, they can drive for free, new local jobs will be created
in the clean energy markets like wind and solar power generation
manufacture and installation.

Upsides of an electric automotive society:
· No automotive air pollution in city centers.
· Better quality of life due to higher aur quality.
· Cleaner streams, water tables, rivers, and oceans due to less
vehicle fluid runoff and fewer oil tankers to spill.
· Nighttime charging of EVs creates more even load for electricity
producers, allowing more efficient operation.
· Increased co-generation of power to shore up the grid and offset
increased electrical usage.
· No need to occupy foreign countries to secure resources.
· Catalyst for creation of better and cheaper clean alternative
energy production technologies.

Downsides? of an electric automotive society:
· People are generally afraid of change. especially when vested
interests spread a lot of FUD about it.
· New tax laws will need to be written eventually to supplant the
gasoline taxes.  (Probably assessed at registration time based on
odometer readings.)
· Many well established companies will have to start from scratch
creating new types of products, or be left in the dist as new
startups eat their lunch.

Overall I'd say that the tremendous benefits to the environment,
public health, foreign policy, and society in general far outweigh
the potential annoyance of disrupting the status quo, and shifting
profits from established industries to ones that are less harmful
to their customers.  If anything I'd say the regulations are too
lax, not too stringent.  People will buy any car you convince them
that they need, and auto makers would have NO problem selling all
of the electric vehicles they make if they actually advertised
them and touted the benefits to the consumer, despite all of the
drawbacks to their current associated parts supplier and oil
industry partners.

Tim wells,
About to start converting a car to an EV because none are made by
the auto industry.