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Hello again everyone, and happy spring! A whole bumper crop of hybrid incentive bills have sprouted all over the country, but is that a good thing? And in Washington, the clean car standards comment deadline grows close, but is victory truly at hand?
Let’s dive in and investigate,
Scott Nathanson
UCS National Field Organizer &
HybridCenter.org Administrator
In this issue:
 On March 5, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public hearing about whether or not to reverse the Bush administration’s decision and grant states the waiver they need to implement the clean car standards for global warming pollution.
I was at the hearing, and in some ways, it felt like I had entered not a conference room, but a time machine. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers was there, as well as the National Automobile Dealers Association. They once again argued against the waiver, decrying the state clean car standards as overly stringent on a struggling industry. It’s an old, failed argument that conveniently forgets the fact that more efficient cars can be an engine for job growth and can help transform the auto industry into a key component of a clean energy economy.
All the oldie-but-goodie arguments were there: No one will buy small cars if gas prices are low. Small cars are unsafe. The standards penalize people who want larger vehicles and states that sell more large vehicles than other states.
 Thankfully, UCS analyst and senior engineer Jim Kliesch was there, too. Equipped with the newly revised blueprint for the UCSVanguard—a minivan design developed by UCS engineers that uses existing technologies and fuels to meet the state clean car standards—he was able to demonstrate to EPA officials that automakers already have the cost-effective tools they need to give consumers cleaner cars in every vehicle class. Adam Lee, an auto dealer in Maine, built on Jim’s point beautifully, making the compelling argument that it was not the government, but the automakers themselves that have created their dire situation by not producing the efficient vehicles that Americans want, and damaging businesses like his by refusing to invest in deploying technology across their car and truck fleets.
I might be biased, but I feel like the automakers didn’t do themselves any favors at the hearing. They did trot out one new message—that they would be in favor of a national standard for carbon emissions from cars that would complement the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Here at UCS, we would welcome a national standard of that sort, provided two things. First, it would need to be at least as strong as the state clean car standards. Second, it must not preempt states from continuing to have the authority to implement standards that are stronger than the federal regulations.
A system like this has worked very well for limiting smog-forming emissions from vehicles. California was granted the power under the Clean Air Act to regulate smog-forming emissions from automobiles, and other states were given the right to adopt those standards or stay with the federal measures. In the 1990’s, California created the Low Emission Vehicle standards that, at first, were far stronger than the federal regulations. As more states adopted the California standards, the federal government began to tighten their tailpipe emission standards as well, so that today, they are nearly as stringent as the state standards. California has begun work to strengthen their smog standards even further as the public health impacts of this pollution continue to have significant and distinct impacts on the state.
Given the distinct impact that carbon emissions—the main source of global warming pollution—have on California, there is no reason why the state clean car standards, and any federal standard created by the Obama administration, cannot work in the same symbiotic way. Indeed, the statements by representatives from the state of Maryland and New Mexico at the EPA hearing hit upon this crucial need. Both noted that the clean car standards represent a central component in their state’s overall climate action plan. Without it, the momentum for overall state efforts to mitigate climate change would be severely diminished.
There is still time for you to weigh in on this issue yourself. The public comment period on the clean car waiver ends on April 6. You can submit your comment directly to the EPA through our action center. So what are you waiting for? We need every voice to weigh in so we can finally clear the last road block to state clean car standards.
 In the current economy, we’re all looking for special offers to help us save money. Especially for big ticket items, like—oh let’s say—a car. Dealerships are offering tons of financial incentives to lure customers, but unfortunately the vast majority of those incentives are geared toward selling the expensive, gas-guzzling vehicles that just aren’t moving off the lot.
Sales of inefficient vehicles have plummeted, but hybrid sales have been flagging of late as well. So now seems a great time for state, local, and federal entities to push incentives for the hybrid market.
But before we dive headlong into incentives like tax credits and free parking, let’s step back and take a look at the bigger picture. In its infancy, the purpose of hybrid incentives was simply to get people interested in this new technology that had the potential to play a role in decreasing global warming pollution and oil dependence if people were willing to pay for it. And you know what, those incentives definitely helped, whether it was the federal tax credits that we worked with some automakers to establish, or popular incentives such as being able to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes with a single occupant that kept Virginia in the top three states for hybrid sales for years. The jump in hybrid sales shows just how much consumers have accepted hybrid technology. In 2001, annual hybrid sales were at just around 20,000 and by 2008 they had grown to more than 300,000.
The hybrid market is also expanding. In 2001, there were only two hybrids for sale in the United States—the Toyota Prius and the original Honda Insight. Today there are more than 20 true hybrid models available to consumers, ranging from 2-seaters to pickup trucks. In just a few months, we’ll add the Ford Fusion Hybrid, Mercury Milan Hybrid, the Gen. 2 Honda Insight, and the Gen. 3 Prius to that number, further building fuel-saving options and even lower price-points.
It is obvious that the hybrid-electric drivetrain is no longer a novelty needing coddling. Indeed, we’ve seen a number of times that hybrid vehicles are not necessarily even that environmentally friendly, yet at times get benefits anyway simply because of the technology. Therefore a simple hybrid incentive is now a blunt instrument in a more complex market. The way we will ensure that any hybrid incentive, or any vehicle incentive for that matter, helps to push the vehicle market toward a cleaner path is actually fairly simple—incentivize environmental and efficiency performance.
We maintain a comprehensive list of current, pending, and expired hybrid incentives on the HybridCenter website, and we update the list throughout the year. Indeed, our fabulous Outreach Assistant Leah Rose just scoured all the state government websites and gave us a fresh update of all the new hybrid incentive bills around the country. Let’s take a look at a couple under a performance-based microscope:
New Mexico residents who purchase a new hybrid with an EPA fuel economy rating of at least 27.4 miles per gallon are eligible for a one-time exemption from the 3 percent motor vehicle excise tax. This exemption is about to expire, and the state legislature is considering extending it to 2012. As many hybrid enthusiasts already know, a fuel economy rating of 27.4 is nothing to write home about when even some hybrid SUV models are breaking 30. New Mexico has the advantage of already having some kind of performance-based criteria, however, so updating the MPG threshold to at least 30mpg would be a step in the right direction.
The Ohio legislature is considering a hybrid incentive that gives consumers who purchase a new hybrid vehicle a tax credit based on the vehicle’s performance. The credit is $3,000 for new hybrid vehicles that achieve a combined EPA fuel economy rating of 40 or more mpg and $2,000 for new hybrid vehicles that achieve less than 40 mpg. The incentive works for all hybrids but gives consumers something extra ($1,000 to be exact) to purchase a more fuel-efficient option. It still lends a hand to some muscle hybrids that may be undeserving of this level of tax credit, but it is a good effort to ensure the greatest reward is for vehicles offering the greatest performance benefit.
 It’s also important to know which MPG numbers you’re talking about, given the updates to the EPA’s fuel economy tests we all worked so hard to secure. For example, in 2003, Maryland passed an emissions test exemption for hybrid vehicles getting more than 50mpg city in EPA city tests. Of course, in 2003, the Honda Insight beat that mark in the older, outdated fuel economy tests, and when the bill was extended in 2005, the Gen. 2 Prius joined it. But the 50mpg number has stayed in that law even though the test has been updated. This has created the curious situation in that pre-2008 Gen. 2 Prius models are still exempt because the official testing was under the old system, but 2008 and above models are now not exempt despite getting the exact same fuel economy. So all performance-based incentives should be based on the new EPA fuel economy and global warming scores in order to be most accurate and beneficial.
You can find the full list of current hybrid incentives and proposals here.
The truth is, we’re in the midst of a tough economy, with fluctuating gas prices. Everyone is concerned about global warming pollution and oil dependence, and the hybrid market is maturing. While a soundly-structured, performance-based hybrid incentive can still make a positive contribution, the market appears ripe enough to focus less on the technology and more on the tailpipe—getting governments on the local, state, and federal level to prod consumers into the most efficient cars available—regardless of technology. Simply put, focusing resources to make cleaner cars cheaper is a win-win way to help a struggling auto market when every sale counts.
- Hybrids Celebrate 100 Years (or more): On March 2, 1909 Henri Pieper was granted U.S. Patent No. 288,181 for the ‘Mixed Drive for Autovehicles,’ what today we call a hybrid-electric vehicle. His patent was for a parallel hybrid system, which the Toyota Prius uses today (though the Prius’ design is, of course, far more sophisticated). There is some confusion about the original inventor of the hybrid because in 1902, Ferdinand Porsche (yes, that Porsche) created the series hybrid system which the upcoming Chevy Volt uses. Like the Volt, Porsche’s invention had a range of 40 miles. To learn more, visit the Hybrid News Center.
 Ford Fusion Sets Its Aim on the Toyota Camry: Ford has set the price of the new Fusion Hybrid slightly higher than its main competitor, the Camry Hybrid. By not using the common marketing strategy of pricing below the competition, Ford is showing just how confident they are in their product. Let the competition begin! For more, visit the Hybrid News Center.
- 2010 Toyota Prius Confident in Face of Challenges: The highly anticipated 2010 Toyota Prius, with a combined EPA fuel economy rating of 50 mpg will go on sale in April, 2009. But it faces two big challenges: the economy and the Honda Insight. Despite plummeting auto sales, Toyota is confident there is space in the hybrid vehicle market for both the Prius and the Insight. The Prius benefits from being the face of hybrids and has an extremely loyal buyer base. Toyota’s own public research reports that 90 percent of Prius owners say their next car will be a Prius. More on the Prius and other hybrid models can be found at the Hybrid News Center.
We have two new additions to our Who’s Got Hybrids? family. Want to join our growing ranks? Please submit your testimonial here. Remember to get your hybrid owning friends to sign up too!
 Wayne Anderson of Twin Falls, ID loves his 2006 Prius. For the first 50,000 miles, he averaged 53.7 mpg. Amazing!
 Robert Cundiff of Mount Holly, NC has had his Prius for more than two years and loves it! On a recent 1,296 mile road trip, he averaged 57 mpg.
That's it for this issue. Enjoy your April, and as always, this close to Opening Day, I must depart with—LET'S GO METS!
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