California continues to work on embracing clean transportation

New mandate sets ambitious goals for state's infrastructure

California is considered one of the most valuable markets for the global auto industry. In recent years, the auto industry has been growing more environmentally conscious, developing vehicles with limited emissions production capabilities and those that produce no emissions at all. These vehicles are expected to do well in California due to the longstanding focus that many of the state's residents have had on environmentalism. The problem, however, is that California currently lacks an infrastructure that is capable of supporting the widespread adoption of clean vehicles.

Infrastructure for clean vehicles must be prepared

The state government has issued a mandate concerning the infrastructure problem. Metropolitan communities throughout the state must work to make themselves "zero emission vehicle" ready. This involves the developing of a fuel and charging infrastructure for clean vehicles. New vehicles that run on hydrogen fuel cells and lithium-ion batteries are expected to hit the state's roads beginning in 2014 and California officials are beginning to pressure communities to prepare to support these vehicles in the near future.

Major cities to expedite completion of infrastructure projects

California's major cities will be making efforts to complete their infrastructure development plans by 2015. Many large cities have been making efforts to build new hydrogen fuel and electric charging stations, but these efforts have been making slow progress. The mandate from the state government will seek to expedite the completion of new fuel and charging stations in a timely manner. The mandate also requires that cities improve the licensing process regarding new infrastructure projects.

Clean transportation is gaining traction

Clean transportation is quickly becoming a hot topic throughout the U.S. Automakers have plans to begin launching hydrogen-powered vehicles and a new generation of battery electrics in 2014, with or without a comprehensive infrastructure to support these vehicles. In order to ensure that it remains a popular market for automakers, California have been working to ramp up the development of its clean transportation infrastructure, but whether or not it will be able to establish a comprehensive infrastructure in time has yet to be seen.