I saw an add the other day for Honda’s new Gas/Electric car. It looks like a great idea BUT I figgure the repair costs for this thing has got to be enormous and ideas? and a followup… do certain states have emissions laws that will push people to buy this car (or a one like it) in the near future??
California had on the books a statute or regulation requring that auto manufacturers achieve zero emissions by sometime in the early 2000’s. I moved away in 1997, so I haven’t heard if that survived; I know that it was under attack by the then Republican administration.
CAFE, Corporate average fuel economy, encourages lower gas consumption pretty much across the country IIRC. California, and I think both NY and MA are following suit, is pushing manufacturers to sell a small percentage of their cars as ULEV (ultra-low emission vehicles). These vehicles have to have a certain lower emission number that is substantially less than most cars and trucks. The manufacturer can accomplish this by using whatever technology they want to whether it is pure electric, high efficiency gas, or any hybrid of the two or any other technology that meets the emmissions numbers.