California’s road to clean energy may upend a lot of industries, including the massive motorhome market. A recent change to the state’s clean air rules could kick start a change that would end new motorhome sales in the state as soon as the end of this year.
California’s Air Resources Board recently made an amendment to the Advanced Clean Truck regulations on October 24, SFGate reports. These regulations would see a gradual increase of zero emission vehicles from manufacturers who make vehicles weighing over 8,500 pounds. The recent amendment was changed to include motorhomes, an industry that has yet to catch on to electric vehicle technology.
Motorhomes affected by the regulation are primarily large, diesel-powered models, including Class A motorhomes and Super C recreational vehicles where the gross vehicle weight is over 8,500 pounds. However, even some gas-powered motorhomes won’t be exempt, as critics say the technology for zero-emission motorhomes is not readily available at this time.
The motorhome industry is up in arms of course. SFGate says a representative from Freightliner Custom Chassis was at the meeting of the CARB board. While he acknowledged the change because of how bad RVs are on gas, he said the amendment won’t stop customers from wanting to buy them. “Not allowing sales of new RVs doesn’t stop consumer demand.”
RV industry lobbyist are working to try and get an exemption to the rule, saying that implementation of the ban would be “…costly and would impact the availability and overall costs of a motorhome.”
CARB was quick to clarify to SFGate that technically, there isn’t a ban and that the system would depend on a number of credits that a manufacturer would have to meet.
A system of credits allows manufacturers who can’t meet the requirements to buy credits from those that do, giving them “the flexibility needed to sell as many internal combustion engines as is needed to meet market demands,” said spokesperson Lys Mendez. According to the board, manufacturers can also focus ZEV production on other vehicle types where that technology is more viable to meet the requirements.
