HEVs and Governments

There are five main reasons for government interest in hybrid and electric vehicles:

1. For the past 30 years, governments have been concerned about their increasing dependence on imported oil and have adopted diversification of fuel supplies as a policy objective. In fact, this was the main reason for the founding of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 1974.
2. During the 1980s, the deteriorating air quality in many cities led to calls for government intervention by both national governments, which regulated vehicle emissions, and municipal governments, some of which imposed driving restrictions on days of heavy air pollution,.
3. During the 1990s, the issue of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions gained wide public attention, and the carbon fuels burned by automobiles were recognized as a major contributor to this problem.
4. Progress toward all three of the primary objectives is made if vehicles are more energy efficient, and this has become a fourth main objective in many government programs.
5. Rapid motorization in developing countries will exacerbate the problems of depleting oil supplies, air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions. It reinforces the need for a more efficient use of oil, including a more efficient use of motor vehicles. The industrialized countries will have to lead the development, testing, production, and use of these new advanced technologies, so that they will also be available for nonindustrialized countries.

Governments from around the world are providing support for the development of improved technologies and are active in the regulation of alternate fuels, vehicle efficiency, and noxious pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. However, more work can be done.

It is obvious that policy makers at a national level ask different questions than municipal policy makers. The goals that these two groups want to see achieved by the introduction of electric or hybrid vehicles are generally of a totally different scope and scale. Whereas national policy makers are concerned about overall emission reductions and oil imports, local governments have to deal with air quality and congestion problems.