Zero-Emission Vehicle Legal and Regulatory Activities - Background

This page last reviewed October 14, 2011

The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulation was first adopted in 1990 as part of the Low Emission Vehicle Program.  Although it has been modifed several times over the years, as shown in the timeline on page four, it still remains an important program for California’s air quality and has spurred many new technologies that are being driven on California’s roads.

While critics maintain that the ZEV regulation is a failure, in reality many successes have come out of the regulation.  For instance, nearly 2 million Californians are driving partial zero and advanced technology partial zero emission vehicles (PZEV and AT PZEV).  These vehicles have near-zero tailpipe emissions, zero evaporative emissions and an extended emissions warranty of 15 years or 150,000 miles.  In fact, they are 80% cleaner than the average 2002 model year car.

In addition to the variety of PZEVs and AT PZEVs available, gas-electric hybrid vehicles are also a success.  With more than 400,000 hybrids on California’s roads, they give consumers a way to reduce emissions and fuel consumption.  Although these “near- zero” emission vehicles provide critical pollution reductions in the near term, with the increases in California’s population and in the number of miles we travel each day, we must continue to pursue pure zero emission transportation technologies.

The Board’s motivation has always been to have zero emission technologies on the roads on a mass scale as soon as possible. Whether using fuel cells, battery electric vehicles, or other technologies, our commitment to zero emissions has never wavered. Our strategy, however, has appropriately considered the state of technology, market factors, economic impact, and our mission.

The Zero-Emission Vehicle Legal and Regulatory Activities page provides more information about the ZEV Regulatory activitiies over the years.

The ZEV Program Timeline: