[rex]

Here is the email I sent to the Governor, assembly member and senator from my district.

Here is how you can find your representatives: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
And for the governor... http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php (once you type in your name and email and submit, it lets you send a note).

Feel free to take my email and modify it to suit your needs, but be aware that you can only send a short note (unless your rep takes direct email).

Dear Beth,

I wanted to reach out to you, as well as the Governor and my other elected officials at the state level to ask that you consider adding the Fisker Karma to the list of HOV lane qualified vehicles.

I recently purchased a Fisker Karma, it is a luxury electric vehicle (for the first 50 miles) with extended range from an internal combustion engine for longer trips. I am getting over 100 miles per gallon, and mostly driving in electric only mode. It is an excellent car, designed in California by Fisker Automotive, with over half the components from the US. Out of my options for a luxury sedan, it is the best environmental choice I could make, as well as being good for California. Along the long list of environmentally responsible design choices, Fisker offers wood trim from rescued fallen wood from the California wildfires (which I selected for my car) as a reminder of the wild fires in my home town of Running Springs, CA.

Please see the link of other luxury sedans in the same price range that I could select from. As you can see, all are foreign, with the exception of Fisker (Fisker is designed in California, assembled in Finland, and has over half the components from the US). Only Fisker is California headquartered, and only Fisker gets over 30 MPG. My personal experience since buying it earlier this month is 134 MPG. I was therefore surprised when I learned that unlike the Volt, which is based on similar electric vehicle with extended range, the Fisker is NOT eligible for the diamond lanes in California (apparently, it is eligible in Florida).

Source: Edmunds.com (search of luxury sedans, $85k+)

Can this be addressed by you and our state legislature? California is the single most important luxury car market in the world. As long as we have a system that promoted certain vehicles for diamond lane (the early models of the Prius, Tesla, and now VOLT), should you support the Fisker for diamond lane access to promote responsible luxury choices?

 

[Fabulist]

Here is the email I sent to the Governor, assembly member and senator from my district.

Here is how you can find your representatives: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
And for the governor... http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php (once you type in your name and email and submit, it lets you send a note).

Feel free to take my email and modify it to suit your needs, but be aware that you can only send a short note (unless your rep takes direct email).

Dear Beth,

I wanted to reach out to you, as well as the Governor and my other elected officials at the state level to ask that you consider adding the Fisker Karma to the list of HOV lane qualified vehicles.

I recently purchased a Fisker Karma, it is a luxury electric vehicle (for the first 50 miles) with extended range from an internal combustion engine for longer trips. I am getting over 100 miles per gallon, and mostly driving in electric only mode. It is an excellent car, designed in California by Fisker Automotive, with over half the components from the US. Out of my options for a luxury sedan, it is the best environmental choice I could make, as well as being good for California. Along the long list of environmentally responsible design choices, Fisker offers wood trim from rescued fallen wood from the California wildfires (which I selected for my car) as a reminder of the wild fires in my home town of Running Springs, CA.

Please see the link of other luxury sedans in the same price range that I could select from. As you can see, all are foreign, with the exception of Fisker (Fisker is designed in California, assembled in Finland, and has over half the components from the US). Only Fisker is California headquartered, and only Fisker gets over 30 MPG. My personal experience since buying it earlier this month is 134 MPG. I was therefore surprised when I learned that unlike the Volt, which is based on similar electric vehicle with extended range, the Fisker is NOT eligible for the diamond lanes in California (apparently, it is eligible in Florida).

Source: Edmunds.com (search of luxury sedans, $85k+)

Can this be addressed by you and our state legislature? California is the single most important luxury car market in the world. As long as we have a system that promoted certain vehicles for diamond lane (the early models of the Prius, Tesla, and now VOLT), should you support the Fisker for diamond lane access to promote responsible luxury choices?

Nice sentiment but I doubt any politician wants to touch anything related to Fisker with the proverbial 10-foot pole at the moment. Also, since the 2013 Volt has qualified for a HOV sticker, there is no technical reason why the Karma could not do the same thing.

 

[doug]

As a plug-in hybrid, the Karma would fall under the relatively new green sticker program. (The white stickers are for EVs, HFCVs, and NGVs.) However, it does not meet the necessary AT-PZEV requirements.
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm

The 2011 Volt did not qualify either, and efforts to modify the then bill failed. Though, for the 2012 and later Volts, GM offers a "low emissions package" standard in California that qualifies it for solo HOV access.

 

[rex]

Nice sentiment but I doubt any politician wants to touch anything related to Fisker with the proverbial 10-foot pole at the moment. Also, since the 2013 Volt has qualified for a HOV sticker, there is no technical reason why the Karma could not do the same thing.

I understand at a federal level the political mine field, but for California, the politics should be different. There is no state loan program, fisker is a California job creator, and it can't hurt to contact representatives and ask that they promote "responsible luxury" especially as the state looks to raise the taxes on the top earners (the very people that are buying the Fisker Karma).

In terms of the volt modifications to qualify, I wonder if fisker can do the same for 2013? (I actually don't commute such that I would end up using the hov. But I think it would be good for fisker if it had the hov as another reason to get the fisker over a panamerra BMW, Benz, Maz, etc.)

 

[ixtractm]

Here is the email I sent to the Governor, assembly member and senator from my district.

Here is how you can find your representatives: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html
And for the governor... http://gov.ca.gov/m_contact.php (once you type in your name and email and submit, it lets you send a note).

Feel free to take my email and modify it to suit your needs, but be aware that you can only send a short note (unless your rep takes direct email).

Dear Beth,

I wanted to reach out to you, as well as the Governor and my other elected officials at the state level to ask that you consider adding the Fisker Karma to the list of HOV lane qualified vehicles.

I recently purchased a Fisker Karma, it is a luxury electric vehicle (for the first 50 miles) with extended range from an internal combustion engine for longer trips. I am getting over 100 miles per gallon, and mostly driving in electric only mode. It is an excellent car, designed in California by Fisker Automotive, with over half the components from the US. Out of my options for a luxury sedan, it is the best environmental choice I could make, as well as being good for California. Along the long list of environmentally responsible design choices, Fisker offers wood trim from rescued fallen wood from the California wildfires (which I selected for my car) as a reminder of the wild fires in my home town of Running Springs, CA.

Please see the link of other luxury sedans in the same price range that I could select from. As you can see, all are foreign, with the exception of Fisker (Fisker is designed in California, assembled in Finland, and has over half the components from the US). Only Fisker is California headquartered, and only Fisker gets over 30 MPG. My personal experience since buying it earlier this month is 134 MPG. I was therefore surprised when I learned that unlike the Volt, which is based on similar electric vehicle with extended range, the Fisker is NOT eligible for the diamond lanes in California (apparently, it is eligible in Florida).

Source: Edmunds.com (search of luxury sedans, $85k+)

Can this be addressed by you and our state legislature? California is the single most important luxury car market in the world. As long as we have a system that promoted certain vehicles for diamond lane (the early models of the Prius, Tesla, and now VOLT), should you support the Fisker for diamond lane access to promote responsible luxury choices?

Do you have the specific link that illustrates the comparisons between luxury cars that I can attach?

 

[rex]

Hi Jeff, I've uploaded a list of brands, from Edmunds, and their MPG. I put in a snap shot of my vehicle, but you could replace with yours.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/7339751148/in/photostream

I am currently getting 10 times better gas milage than similarly priced luxury cars. [hr]

Also, here is the response I received from my state senator's office.

Dear Mr. Briggs:

Enclosed is the response I received from CA Air Recourses Board (CARB) regarding the HOV lane decal program. Unfortunately, your Fisker Karma doesn’t qualify for the White or Green HOV lane decals that DMV issues to drivers in California at this time.

The most direct solution to this would be to introduce legislation to modify the regulations that CARB uses to allow vehicles to receive HOV lane decals. Legislative deadlines have passed for this year and new legislation can’t be introduced until the new legislature is sworn in on December 3, 2012. I will keep your email and suggestion on file for consideration as legislation.

Sincerely,


Dana Jorgensen

Senator Gaines


From:
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2012 10:44 AM
To: Jorgensen, Dana
Cc: Arnold, [email protected]; Gress, [email protected]; Neese, [email protected]
Subject: Question on Fisker Karma and HOV Lane Decal

Dear Dana,

Thanks for your inquiry. We appreciate your effort to better understand the HOV lane decal program. The program is intended to encourage the sale of advanced technology clean vehicles for operation on our state’s highways. These vehicles are needed to help the State meet its clean air and climate change goals. The qualification criteria for the HOV lane decal program are provided below.

White Clean Air Vehicle Decals: Zero Emission and CNG Vehicles
Cars that meet these requirements are typically certified pure zero emission vehicles (100% battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell) and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles that meet the SULEV (super ultra-low emission vehicle) exhaust standard, which is the most stringent standard after the ZEV (zero-emission vehicle) standard. The expiration date for the white stickers has been extended to January 1, 2015.

The Fisker Karma vehicle is neither a zero emission or SULEV CNG vehicle, so it does not qualify for this sticker. It was certified to the LEV (low-emission vehicle) standard, which is more than five times higher than the SULEV standard in terms of smog-causing pollutants of non-methane organic gases and oxides of nitrogen (NMOG+NOx).

Green Clean Air Vehicle Decals: Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles
New Stickers are available as of January 1, 2012, and will be valid through January 1, 2015, to the first 40,000 applicants that purchase or lease eligible cars. Qualifying vehicles include plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hydrogen internal combustion engine (hydrogen ICE) vehicles. In order to be certified as a PHEVs or hydrogen ICE vehicle, a vehicle must:

• Meet California's most stringent tailpipe emission standard, the SULEV standard.
• Have zero evaporative emissions
• Have a 15 yr/150K mile warranty on the emissions system and;
• Have a 10 yr/150K warranty on the zero emission energy storage system.

Although the Fisker Karma vehicle is certified as a PHEV, it does not meet the required certification criteria (SULEV, zero-evaporative emission standard, and the longer warranty periods). Therefore, the vehicle does not qualify for a green decal.

Yellow Sticker Vehicle Program
As you correctly noted in your email, the yellow sticker program has sunset. However, the Fisker Karma vehicle would not have met the criteria required for that program because it was not certified to the emissions and warranty standards required to receive the yellow sticker.

Below is a link to the ARB website that lists eligible vehicles and links to further information.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm

Thanks again for supporting our State’s clean vehicle clean air program. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,



Chief of Staff
Office of Legislative Affairs

 

[P90XMC2]

well it seems that someone managed to get the stickers for a karma, anyone know the owner?

 

[ElectricRocket]

Here in Utah we get the HOV lane for our Karma's. We moved away from specific plates, and in instead get windshield decals. Which I laminated and put up with tack so that I can remove when not using.

 

[steven]

I don't understand how a Prius, Chevy Volt and Cadillac are approved when the Fisker probably gets better mileage than any of them.

 

[marswill]

It's not the mileage but the engine pollutants. The Karma'e engine is an older design. The early Volt didn't qualify until they cleaned up the engine.

 

[fyre238]

i have my HOV decal for Florida. love the looks i get and time i save passing traffic.

 

[SoCalGuy]

I don't understand how a Prius, Chevy Volt and Cadillac are approved when the Fisker probably gets better mileage than any of them.

The GM Ecotec 4cyl in the REx for the Karma is not SULEV certified, so no matter what the application, it can't qualify for the sticker in Calif. The N20 (or N26) by BMW that FA intends to usein the Atlantic for REx does qualify as SULEV however, so it may be possible for the Atlantic to qualify.