CarSeekBlog

Californians who drive all-electric vehicles will be pleased to learn that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Assembly Bill 1500 which allows the owners of such vehicles, as well as cars running on compressed natural gas, to drive solo in carpool lanes until January 1, 2015, so if you recently bought a Toyota Rav4 EV, or a Tesla Roadster, or are eagerly awaiting the Nissan LEAF, you’re in good shape.

However, Californians who drive conventional hybrids should be aware that another bill, SB 535 is being reviewed by the state legislature right now, and if that one is signed into law, while the carpool lane privileges currently set to expire on January 1st of next year will be extended through July 31st, 2011, they will not be extended beyond that point. Also in the bill is an incentive offered to 40,000 owners of plug-in hybrids like the Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Karma, which are currently excluded from solo diamond lane access.

While the law only applies to California, other states with similar provisions for their carpool / HOV lanes, states like Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Virginia, might follow suit. Essentially this means 85,000 California hybrids will be banned from carpool lanes when driven solo, in order to make room for more electric cars.

While some commuters love the ability to use the carpool lane without penalty, there is no certainty about whether or not such incentives actually promote the use of greener cars.

Filed under: Chevy, Going Green by Mel