City Council Meeting: December
2, 2008
Agenda Item: 1-K
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Joan Akins, Community Maintenance
Department Director
Subject: Adoption of a Resolution Supporting Federal
Regulations to Establish a Medium-Speed Vehicle (MSV) Classification.
Recommended
Action
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a Resolution of Support requesting that the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) establish a Medium-Speed Vehicle classification for vehicles limited to a maximum speed of 35 mph and limited to operate on roads with a 35 mph maximum speed limit.
Executive
Summary
Creation of a new NHTSA classification is needed to allow
the safe and legal use of vehicles limited to a maximum speed of 35 mph. MSVs are primarily zero-emission, battery
powered vehicles that are available today.
The manufacture, sale and use of MSVs will displace oil, create demand
and accelerate the automotive industry’s move toward zero-emission vehicles.
Background
Typical passenger cars must meet all safety
standards of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for full-speed
vehicles or be classified as a Low-Speed Vehicle (LSV) which is limited to a
top speed of 25 mph on roads posted for 35 mph or less. MSVs do not fall under either of these
regulations.
Fully compliant FMVSS vehicles have
requirements such as advanced air bags and electronic stability control that
adds approximately $10M to the development cost of a vehicle. This is prohibitive for all but the few largest
manufacturers and greatly limits competition to bring alternative fuels
technology advancements to market.
Manufacturers and other proponents of MSVs
believe that some FMVSS requirements have little or no advantage at 35 mph or
less and that there are other design features that can be used to ensure the
same or higher levels of safety, including some used in professional auto
racing. They want to opportunity to work
with NHTSA to establish safety standards for MSVs.
Discussion
MSVs with their limited range and speed are a
perfect fit for existing EV technology.
Full-speed Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are still several years away
with the biggest obstacle being affordability of batteries to accommodate high
speeds for long distances. Large manufacturers will have demonstration vehicles
on the road within the next couple of years in limited applications, but large
numbers of commercially available BEVs are five or more years away at the
earliest and could be much longer if fuel prices remain low (see Attachment A
for examples of potential MSVs).
MSVs provide an ideal environment to test and
develop experimental or expensive battery, fuel cell, compressed air and other
zero emission technologies than is needed for full-speed vehicles. This environment encourages participation by
a larger group of inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses to work on
resolving our transportation problems.
With more people working on the problem we can expect better solutions.
These vehicles are ideal for congested areas, commuter
vehicles and “last mile” use. They
should reduce the incidents of accident and injuries attributed to excessive
speed and therefore, increase safety in urban and pedestrian environments. Zero emission vehicles improve health, the
environment, reduce global warming and reduce our use of petroleum fuel.
Financial Impacts &
Budget Actions
There are no immediate financial impacts. Future impacts could include development of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, loss of parking revenue for zero-emission vehicles and electric use at City owned EV chargers.
Prepared by:
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Approved: |
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Forwarded to Council: |
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Joan Akins Director,
Community Maintenance Department |
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P. City Manager |
Attachment: Attachment A -
Examples of Vehicles Capable of Being MSVs