The RVIA, alongside many industry professionals, testified Thursday before the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The Board proposed a on ban generators installed on motorhomes and towable RVs as part of an amendment to small off-road engine regulations.
Ultimately, the Board voted in favor of banning the sale of new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers, starting in 2024, and portable generators by 2028.
CARB is the state regulator responsible for controlling emissions from small off-road engines. CARB believes that the ban will drive companies to develop zero emission solutions, such as batteries or fuel cells.
Micheal Ochs, RVIA director of state government affairs, asked CARB during the hearing to consider classifying RV generators as stationary, due to the installed nature of the mechanisms. He also asked the Board to delay the effective date for the proposed ban to 2035 for RV generators, noting many industry professionals believe there is no technically feasible workaround available to the industry, or even visible on the horizon.
The RVIA director cautioned CARB members that approving the ban could cause the opposite reaction from what is intended, with RV consumers heading to other states for RVs with installed generators, and others utilizing aftermarket generators with fewer efficiencies.
Jeff Burian, operations manager for Forest River, said the company manufactures some of its RVs in California. Burian said Forest River recently designed and built an RV with the maximum number of solar panels and storage batteries allowed by RVIA codes. The experiment revealed the unit did not meet the expectations of an average RV owner, had no backup power and cost at least $20,000 more than a generator model.
“I’m concerned with how the new regulations could affect our industry with regards to loss of sales, jobs, customer satisfaction and the safety of RVs in the state of California,” Burian said. “It will ultimately have a ripple effect that will travel well-beyond the RV industry and its dealerships.”
Ronnie Raddigan, California-based Happy Daze RVs general manager and member of the California RVDA board, said his company’s three dealerships and its employees would suffer if CARB enacted the legislation. He said RV generators are “far from portable” due to size, weight and configuration, and thus should have a different definition.
“This bill being discussed today will only cost California businesses sales and California families income,” Raddigan said. “In 2020 we sold 1,147 new motorhomes and trailers for a total sales of $72 million. Of those sold units, over 600 were factory equipped with on-board, permanently mounted generators to supply the RV with enough sure power to operate as a home.”
He applauded efforts to curb emissions but argued the measure would harm more than it would help.
CARB received hundreds of written comments in favor and against the bill from stakeholders across the U.S.
