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Over the last six years, I have been fortunate to drive a ZEV,
which is also a BEV; a 2002 RAV 4 EV. During my ownership of this
10 year-old design vehicle, 98,000 miles have accummulated on the
odometer, and 5000 gallons of gasoline have NOT been burned. By
avoiding the use of this amount of gasoline, the resultant 100,000
pounds of carbon dioxide emissions have been avoided. Yes, a far
lesser amount has been released from power plants in the region,
but this is minimized, as I set the charge timer to activate well
after 12 midnight, in preparation for my daily commute at 6:00 am.
My grand total for unplanned maintenance the last six years is
$1044.13. My total expense for planned maintenance (brakes, tires,
other very minor items)is far less than that for a comparable
fuel-burning vehicle. My life has been enhanced and simplifed due
to the elimination of weekly trips to pump an expensive, smelly,
toxic petroleum fluid into my car. The elimination of oil changes,
smog checks, tune ups, and other hassles common to a fuel-burning
car have been a plus. Thanks to a number of public charging
stations in the next county to the North, there have been days I
have completed almost 200 miles of EV driving, arriving safely
back at home without burning a drop of gasoline.

It is almost impossible to park this car without having other
Californians ask "where do I get one, how far does it go, where do
you charge, etc.". It's really a shame I have to tell them these
cars are not available except on a very limited basis, only on the
used market. I imagine if one is fortunate enough to be in a
positon to write a $100K check for a Tesla roadster, that would be
an option; our Governor and certain celebrities are, but most of us
are not. Certainly the majority of working California commuters are
left without a real option of zero-emissions driving. 

The fantasy of the Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) is just that. It would
seem the manufacturers also know this, and see it as a ploy to
continue the chant "not ready yet, need better technology, need
breakthrough, need improved batteries, people won't buy it, etc."
In my years of driving since 1975, I have NEVER seen a FCV on the
road. I HAVE seen several other BEV's, which is remarkable, given
their scarcity.  Practically every home in the state has electric
power, but none that I know of have pure Hydrogen plumbed to them.
It isn't even available anywhere in my neighborhood.  Lets not
forget Hydrogen is not itself a fuel; it is merely an energy
carrier that must be manufactured inefficiently through the use of
natural gas, or enormous amounts of electricity. Both these methods
leave vast amounts of Carbon Dioxide behind. Please do not be
distracted by the myth of the FCV! 

My letter won't be complete without mentioning the vehicle-to-grid
concept. Given the lingering effects of the California Electricity
"Experiment" earlier this decade, lets do something different, and
show real, world-class technology leadership. With the right
interface applied across a meaningful number of BEV's, the
CAISO-grid can be operated in a far more effecient manner, further
reducing power plant emissions of all types, while improving
reliability. Owners of BEV's will benefit as well, being allowed
to particpate financially in this arena. Don't let the industry
tell you it can't be done, when we have Pay Pal, Fast Pass, and
many other examples of automated monetary transactions in our
electronic economy. Be sure to let the real technology experts,
not the "Free Market" determine the best interface standard to
use. A statewide standard is imperative to make this work. 

I hope my position is not ambiguous. Make the requirement for
ZEV's meaningful beginning with the next model year, and don't be
distracted by the smoke and mirrors offerred by the automotive and
oil industries. Assemble the best technology minds (NOT Commercial
Minds) to design the vehicle-to-grid interface that will help
solve another problem we suffer from in this state.  We can do it,
and be the envy of the world, if we really want to. 

Michael J. Colburn, P. E. 
Californian since 1958
Working California commuter since 1975 
Gasoline-free commuter since 2002