1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Wa. State Hybrid Vehicle and Alternate Fuel Report

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by wjtracy, Jul 29, 2014.

  1. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I recently found a Hybrid/Green Car monthly newsletter that is excellent. The editor briefly summarizes many of the same topics we (less concisely) talk about here. I find the editor's approach to be open and refreshing.

    The Hybrid Vehicle and Alternate Fuels Report (Wa. State DOT) - All issues

    WSDOT - Budget and Financial Analysis - Hybrid Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Report

    Here are a few highlights I noticed:

    FEBRUARY 2014 Issue
    http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/81D95EC2-B77D-454C-958E-B0EFB03CF569/0/HybridReportFebruary282014.pdf
    >The Wa. state EV tax exemption currently slated to end 2015 so plan your Wa. EV purchases accordingly

    MAY 30 2014 ISSUE
    http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/64E56482-7D3E-4F3A-A622-252EEAB403D8/0/HybridReportMay302014.pdf
    >US Senate proposed (I don't think it was adopted) a blow to hybrids by removing hybrids from single occupant HOV lanes going forward (existing hybrid HOV access would be allowed to continue).
    >Morgan Stanley analyst declaration that EV's (other than Tesla) are "dead" with rebuttal by IHS Automotive: EV doing better than hybrids and "not dead"

    I don't think we talked about the HOV proposal on Prius Chat...I have mixed emotions...but I think I would leave it up to the states. VA first and CA later have showed that free HOV access can be the single most important incentive in green car sales. I think I would let the state decide if and which vehicles gets that incentive. The senate proposal would remove hybrids...rather than selecting winning technology, I would say over 45 MPG EPA or something like that.
     
    #1 wjtracy, Jul 29, 2014
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2014
  2. Troy Heagy

    Troy Heagy Member

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2013
    1,218
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Hybrids are not allowed in California carpool lanes unless they also have EV capability.
     
  3. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
    17,039
    10,013
    90
    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I don't understand why the proposed federal changes to the HOV access issue have any relevance to Washington State. We don't have it, we have very little political demand for it, and our very high adoption rate of these vehicles in the absence of such incentives demonstrates that it is wholly unnecessary here.

    On top of that, many of our HOV lanes are already heavily used for their primary and secondary missions. Adding this tertiary mission would result in a deluge of additional users, enough to be catastrophic to the existing missions.
     
  4. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    May not have Wa. state relevance I suppose.
    The Wa. newsletter is good because it gives a global/national view of green car happenings...there is some Wa. specific stuff but also good for wider audience.
     
  5. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2006
    11,309
    3,586
    1
    Location:
    Northern VA (NoVA)
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I know. So the Senate was basically proposing to make national policy the same as CA policy (going forward). I assume this new HOV provision died when Congress failed to adopt the new transportation funding plan, but we probably hear about this again in 2015.