We Obsessively Cover the Green Scene…

One of the persistent challenges of deploying plug-in vehicles has always been metrics: how to evaluate, regulate, incentivize and talk about them to the general public. It's complicated enough transitioning consumers from thinking about miles per gallon to miles per kilowatt hour, particularly for vehicles that refuel via both plug and pump. And within this new language, regulating automakers requires a different dialect than marketing or consumer education, to say nothing of different agency priorities: curbing emissions, reducing petroleum use, protecting public health and so on.

Given the inherent complexity, the impulse to pick one definition or metric for these vehicles and apply it broadly is understandably appealing. But actually doing so creates unintended consequences akin to Maslow's summation that, "if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail". Such is the case with California's SB 535, which passed earlier this month and will allow plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs) to have High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access beginning on January 1, 2012. On its face, it's a win – but it's a very nuanced win, and one we ought not get too excited about.

HOV lane access is the single most effective perk we've had for electric vehicles; because the earliest adopters are less price sensitive than mainstream buyers (and have incomes high enough to exclude them from many tax credits usually applied to these technologies), they tend to be moved more by incentives that offer convenience and privilege than by any financial benefits. So, as has been done with both hybrids and battery electric vehicles, it not only makes sense but has been a foregone conclusion that PHEVs would enjoy single-occupant HOV lane access for a few years to encourage early uptake. SB 535 was originally constructed as a more robust version of a similar policy used for hybrids, essentially raising minimum miles per gallon ratings from 45 to 65 and adding the requirement of grid rechargability. However, the proposed regulation was pared back in June to reflect only an emissions-based metric: the California Air Resources Board's "enhanced-ATPZEV" designation. The irony is that in focusing solely on emissions, the bill unintentionally promotes the use of gasoline. (This post continues after the jump.)

After inviting hundreds of people to Japan to check out the production-ready Leaf electric vehicle, Nissan has begun a much smaller effort in launch markets in the U.S., thus far conducting test drives in San Diego and Los Angeles, California. I managed to snag a last-minute slot in the latter, figuring I'd mostly confirm my initial impressions gleaned from tooling around Dodger Stadium's parking lot in a prototype last December. I did and I didn't.

There are plenty of reviews around the Leaf as a car; John O'Dell has a pretty comprehensive one here. And it's just as well, because, while Nissan let me behind the wheel for about half an hour, morning traffic precluded me from going much over 50 miles per hour. That's enough to concur with much of what has been said so far – the car is quiet and peppy, manages hills with little effort and has a nicely balanced suspension that is both smooth and comfortable while being responsive around corners and negotiating traffic. All of this was suggested in my drive of the Versa version, and confirmed in the actual Leaf. Easy to drive and innocuous to look at, it's what you imagine They Might Be Giants had in mind.

I also disagree with a couple of the criticisms floating around, and find them worth clarifying here: the motor is not at all "tinny" sounding; unless that manifests only at high speeds, the Leaf is actually one of the quietest EVs of this generation. While John felt the interior was boring in its minimalism, I thought the relatively monochromatic palette felt light and airy and suited the car. Given the exterior, something sportier would likely seem out of place. It's also through this fact that the Leaf's true point of distinction begins to emerge – any extra attention you might have paid to more dynamic interior features is absorbed by the instrument panel and infotainment center. Put simply, the Leaf has the best user interface I've seen in an electric vehicle (EV) yet. Find out more after the jump.

Recently, Nissan unveiled it's "Approaching Vehicle Sound for Pedestrians" (VSP), a wonky name for the noise added to the upcoming Leaf electric vehicle (EV) at low speeds. Doing so immediately ignited a debate about the aural aesthetics of the noise itself, but it also indirectly brought more attention to the issue of adding noise to cars in the first place. For most of a year, it's been bubbling under the surface, since the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has instigated legislators to believe that with their (in theory) quieter motors, hybrids and plug-ins are pedestrian-killing machines in the making. Initially, there was lots of hand-wringing over the Leaf's acoustics specifically, whose tones many people found off-putting when heard in the initial videos. This was soon replaced by a fair amount of placation by the journalists and stakeholders flown by Nissan to Japan to test the Leaf in person. "Don't worry about the regulation", we've essentially been told in various blog posts, "the Leaf sounds aren't so bad in person." Except, this isn't about the Nissan Leaf – and it's not really about blind people either. Or rather, it shouldn't be.

The Leaf sounds might be relevant to this discussion if they were indicative of the sound every other manufacturer might add to its hybrids and plug-ins, or even of the noise and volume level that would be "approved" by the NFB. The former isn't known, and the NFB is already complaining about the Leaf. More, even if the Leaf's VSP "isn't that bad," does that make it preferable to having no extra noise at all? Years of working with EV drivers tells me they'd rather have the latter. The EV1, in fact, had a back-up beeper not unlike the Leaf's – and in an ongoing "wish list" drivers kept over several years of the various features they'd like to see added or changed, getting rid of that beeper (and other passive unnecessary noises) ranked consistently in the top spot. But what the EV1 also had was its own driver-engaged pedestrian alert, which the drivers loved and was highly effective, enough so that GM is deploying it in the Volt. Unfortunately, such systems won't even be considered by the NFB.

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In a rainy parking lot behind the Long Beach Convention Center, Chevrolet Volt Vehicle Line Director Tony Posawatz is egging on his last test driver of the night, while Bill Nye "the Science Guy" coaches from the back: "Okay, so want you want to do is hug this next curve with your right wheels – now punch it...puunnch it!" Each time the prototype Volt squeals around one of the wet asphalt corners, then straightens again without disturbing any of the bordering cones, the carload of grown (mostly) men would giggle like my son does after a fart joke. The women were just as aggressive, and just as thrilled – but everyone is at least slightly surprised to be smiling at all.

Over a decade ago, these drivers all leased the EV1, an experience that left them sold on electric cars but unconvinced that General Motors could ever be committed to one. When the EV1 program finally ended, some became very public about their frustration, while others just faded away, packing away the experience as souvenir of a future that came a little too soon.

For many years, GM did the same, seemingly willing it all to go away. But while the 2007 Volt unveiling was meant to be a bold step in a new direction, many saw it as a disjointed attempt to atone for the past. For their part, GM met the cynicism with relentless transparency throughout the Volt's gestation, publicizing so many battery developments, supplier engagements, and plant choices that media briefings became nearly cliché. There have been some questionable choices – touting utopian triple-digit miles per gallon numbers invited wrath from media and enviros alike who saw it as greenwashing. (Notably, Nissan advertised their even higher number, 367 mpg, for the Leaf just a few days later and barely created a blip.) Over time, though, tongues have largely been removed from cheeks when mentioning "General Motors" and "electric vehicle" in the same sentence, as press releases have given way to pre-production vehicles and other milestones were achieved. Read on after the jump for more.