The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Washington, DC) are calling on the California Air Resource Board (ARB) to adopt a “Fair Market Test" to determine whether a successful, sustainable consumer market exists for battery-powered electric vehicles at volumes required by the states zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
The Fair Market Test outlined by the Alliance would be conducted through existing dealerships in one California market over a reasonable time period, such as three years, beginning in 2003. The Alliance proposes that the ZEV mandate would be amended to defer its effective date while the test is being conducted. As required by California law, the final decision regarding the test's success would be made by ARB.
“The Fair Market Test is a common-sense approach to determine whether a market exists," said Josephine S. Cooper, president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “Everyone, including ARB, agrees that California's ZEV mandate presents enormous challenges, and one of the most difficult is low customer demand for electric vehicles. We developed the Fair Market Test to evaluate consumer responses to a range of EVs that are marketed in one specific geographic area."
