California pushing for zero-emission cars by midcentury

San Francisco

SERGIO Marchionne had a funny thing to say about the US$32,500 (S$44,700) battery-powered Fiat 500e that his company markets in California as "eco-chic". "I hope you don't buy it," he told his audience at a think tank in Washington in May 2014. He said he loses US$14,000 on every 500e he sells and only produces the cars because state rules require it. Mr Marchionne, who took over the bailed-out Chrysler in 2009 to form Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, warned that if all he could sell were electric vehicles, he would be right back looking for another government rescue.

So who's forcing Mr Marchionne and all the other major automakers to sell mostly money-losing electric vehicles? More than any other person, it's Mary Nichols. She's run the California Air Resources Board since 2007, championing the state's zero-emission-vehicle quotas and backing President Barack Obama's national mandate to double average fuel economy to 55 miles per gallon by 2025. She was chairman of the state air regulator once before, a ge…