California signs clean cars bills

Excellent news for zero emission vehicles from California. Governor Edmund G. Brown has signed six new laws that will help boost the acceptance and use of electric cars in the Golden State.

The measures come as no surprise. California is already the leader in the use of green cars with 35 per cent of the country’s electric cars.

The half a dozen new bills include a number of measures including:
Drivers of certain low-emission vehicles are now allowed to drive in high-occupancy or “diamond” lanes until at least 2019
Drivers of pure zero-emission vehicles — i.e. 100 per cent battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and compressed natural gas — can use carpool lanes, regardless of the number of occupants
Programs to reduce auto emissions will be extended until 2024
The development of standards for charging infrastructure in residential and non-residential developments
Charging stations will be made easier to find, easier to use and accessible to all EV-drivers
An extra US$ 48 million will be used to fund incentives for cleaner cars and fleet modernisation

With the new measures, California looks on track to meet its goal of having 1.5 million zero emission cars on its roads by 2025.

Push picture: National Plug -in day 2012 in San Francisco