Energy

Consumers to benefit from new multi-state agreement to put 3.3 million zero emission vehicles on U.S. roads

Clean vehicles save on gas costs, give consumers more choices

 |  Press Release

Washington, D.C. – A new multi-state cooperative agreement to put more than three million battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel-cell-electric vehicles on U.S. roads is getting a stamp of approval from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA).

Today in Sacramento, CFA joined representatives from California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont to announce an agreement to promote the accelerated adoption of zero emissions passenger cars, trucks and transit buses in these states.

“Efforts to provide consumers with new, more efficient and gasoline-free transportation options are welcome and needed,” said Mark Cooper, Director of Research for CFA, who took part in the public announcement of the new agreement. CFA is a national association of nearly 300 non-profit organizations working to advance the interests of consumers.

The Zero Emissions Vehicle Program: Clean Cars States Lead in Innovation, a new paper released today by CFA, explains that Zero Emissions Vehicle policy coupled with efforts to reduce barriers to clean vehicle adoption will accelerate the growth of the national market for the latest zero emissions vehicles. Based on years of polling data, the paper explains, that is exactly what American consumers want.

“The key role that California and the Clean Cars states played in accelerating the deployment of hybrids in the past decade underscores the importance of leadership in energy innovation,” said Cooper.

“U.S. automakers failed to ride the wave of the ‘hybrid revolution’ in the 1990s, and that failure proved to be a costly one,” Cooper concluded. “U.S. automakers need to be at the leading edge of technological innovation to succeed in the increasingly competitive global auto industry and because Americans want cars that protect their pocketbooks from volatile gasoline costs. Zero emissions vehicles do just that and the ZEV program will give U.S. auto makers a leg up in their most important market.”

To book an interview with CFA, please call Roxanna Smith at 415.453.0430 or 510.326.0390.

Contact: Roxanna Smith, 510.326.0390

The Consumer Federation of America is an association of nearly 300 non-profit consumer groups that, since 1968, has sought to advance the consumer interest through research, education, and advocacy.