[RahulNagaraj]

According to a report, the state of California is looking to allow local governments to introduce "Zero-Emission Zones" in the near future. For this to happen, the California Air Resource Board (CARB) is said to be gathering information about the locations of classic cars and how the owners use them.



The CARB authorities sent out a survey to owners of classic cars with model years on or before 1978. The questions in the survey were about the car's usage, where they are stored, where they are driven, and even how many miles are on the odometer.

The introduction of zero-emission zones is part of California's aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Reports state that California's car culture, although still amazing, isn't what it used to be before. However, moves like this could accelerate its current trajectory. Back in 2019, California had also suggested allowing local jurisdictions to create zero-emission zones, similar to the ULEZ zones all over London, UK. This would have banned old & classic cars from entering certain areas or made drivers pay a daily fee to drive in these zones.

Source: DailyCaller

Link to Team-BHP news

[IanNazareth]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

Reports state that California's car culture, although still amazing, isn't what it used to be before. However, moves like this could accelerate its current trajectory.

So their plan is to ban cars that are driven less frequently to reduce large scale emissions?

Not sure that they have studied the effect properly that this ban will even produce.

Perhaps they need to 'modernize' their thoughts a little.

[Evyas]

Reminds me of when the same organisations and government had tried to do this in the 1990s. It was brilliantly and heartbreakingly captured in the 2006 documentary 'Who Killed The Electric Car?'

It is a wonderfully made documentary about what could have been, a dream that was crushed (quite literally) and how corporate greed and policy paralysis, alongwith a lack of viability killed something that, if it had continued, would have put us on the EV path decades ago.

And as I kept reading more about it, I came to know of the GM EV1.

So the state of California had the same idea and passed the ZEV rule in 1990. At the time, it was pretty revolutionary and futuristic. So much so that even General Motors got behind it! Who would have thought. Some of the brightest minds in those times got together and created the GM EV1, probably one of the first commercially produced mass market electric cars in the world.

It had the same issues that we know of today - range anxiety, lack of charging infrastructure - but what it also had was insane acceleration, great city driving abilities - AND the backing of Hollywood. Like Apple and a lot of other companies, GM decided to give away a few EV1s to celebs so that they could promote it on their behalf. If you see the documentary you'll see Tom Hanks and Mel Gibson, among others, owned EV1 and LOVED it and promoted it, Hanks even going on a late night show to tell the viewers this is the future and that it's going to make our kids safe/breathe cleaner air.

GM even invested in charging stations and it looked like the world was going to make a turn for a cleaner/better future, but then something changed. My understanding from reading and researching what I could find, is that the big oil companies pushed back. And pushed back hard. And even GM got scared. It was almost a mafia level hit - take this off the market and get rid of any known prototype, or else you'll be sleeping with the fishes

So all the EV1s were all 'recalled' because they were given away on leases, which meant none of the people who were driving the EV1s actually owned them! Turned into a scandal and even went into a protest march and 'dharna' outside the lots where the EV1s were taken for being discarded.

That part of the documentary is heartbreaking since as a petrolhead/auto lover, someone coming in a flatbed to take away your car is a horrifying sight, and an emotional wallop all of us can understand. And not just that, the people who 'owned' those cars were told they will be recycled, given to museums, but that was not the case. GM decided to CRUSH the cars, as if it was scared if anyone tried to replicate the technology, they would be put out of business.

It's all very filmy, but that being California, some EV1 owners decided to hire a helicopter (!) and went looking for their EV1 disposal and now there is footage of GM having destroyed all the EV1s and crushed them like they were trash. And remember - these are all FULLY WORKING FUNCTIONAL CARS.

It is beyond bizarre. I had only read about it and the documentary was hard to find. Thankfully I found it online at this page.

https://watchdocumentaries.com/who-k...-electric-car/

Anyone interested can see how the last time ZEV came around how the killed the first commercial passenger EVs.

The good thing - the same filmmaker made a followup 5 years later, called 'Revenge of the Electric Car', which charts the emergence of Tesla and how GM suddenly changed its tune when the future was staring it in the face.

http://revengeoftheelectriccar.com

That is on YouTube and free to watch. But I suggest you see the first documentary first. It will make you scream in anguish at what could have been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LH-NVnu-ec

So I am very interested in knowing what this new ZEV plan is going to do, since it went so well last time

OT: As someone who has been fascinated with EV technology for a few years, I had no idea just how old the tech was, and how viable it was decades before it actually came into actual use. I had no clue EVs were almost as old as cars themselves! We had types of EVs in the 1800s, including the most famous William Morrison's one that was shown at the 1893 Chicago World fair! It blew my mind. Auto noob that I am, I actually thought it was a modern 21st century invention!

A good source for the history of EVs here:

https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...electric-cars/

[Samurai]

There is a counter narrative, by the former California Governor no less...

https://youtu.be/UGrE_l3OzRY