Our column in the December 2019 issue Building a
Better World, Together discussed how some states are
offering more electric vehicle choices to consumers.
To join the conversation, go to CR.org/evs0220.
HOW EXACTLY DOES Colorado
plan to “require” an automaker
to sell a certain type of car?
If I walk into a Colorado car
dealership, will someone
inform me that I must buy a
certain kind of car because the
manufacturer is required to sell
them? Surely this is an absurd
way to promote EVs.
—Tom Wiatt, Austin, TexasEDITOR’S NOTE You won’t be
forced to purchase a specific kind
of vehicle when you walk into
a dealership. The requirement
in Colorado (initially aroundemissions, in that, there are
none. Though some emissions
might be created in the energy-
producing process, that’s not
always the case, because some
homes are solar-powered. It’s
also an important distinction
because not all emissions
are created equal. Tailpipe
emissions create localized
smog and leave behind a lot
of harmful chemicals. To see
a map we created that shows
how much less greenhouse gas
emissions are produced by
an EV compared with a gas-
powered vehicle in each state,
go to CR.org/evmap0220.SAFER
SUPPLEMENTSIN “SHOP SMARTER for
Supplements” (December 2019),
you state that even though
increased efforts by the
Food and Drug Administration
“to enforce the law are
a positive step, consumers
have a right to expect the
FDA to have been doing
this all along.” The FDA tried
to establish tougher regulations
on the supplement industry
in the early 1990s, but the
supplement industry used
its lobbyists and those same
consumers to write to their
senators and congressional
reps telling them to leave
the supplement industry
alone. Sen. Orrin Hatch and
Rep. Bill Richardson killed
the FDA’s regulations and
handed the supplement
industry a big win. Fast-
forward to 2015 when the
attorney general of New York
investigated multiple major
retailers for selling many
different supplements that did
not contain anything except
some ground-up vegetables
(shown by DNA testing). You5 percent) simply increases
the EV offerings at your
dealership and is expected to
be a small enough increase
to be easily achievable, because
many prospective car buyers
in Colorado are interested in
buying them. And many electric
vehicles, depending how much
they are driven, may be able to
deliver a lower overall cost of
ownership because the driver
saves on not only fuel costs but
also short-term maintenance
costs. To learn about newly
proposed fees on EV cars in some
states, turn to page 14.I WAS SURPRISED at the
comparisons between the
Nissan Leaf Plus and the
Hyundai and Kia EVs (Road
Test, December 2019). TheLeaf is hardly outclassed
by them. I have found my
Leaf to be fun to drive, fast,
silent, powerful, and very
comfortable at highway
speeds. Not every driver needs
a car that can be driven 600
miles between fueling stops.
—W. Geoffrey Seeley,
Washing tonPLEASE DO NOT call EVs
zero-emission cars! They use
electricity that, at this time,
is mostly produced by fossil
fuel. That being said, I love my
Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid.
—J. Michael Rockwell,
Cassopolis, MIEDITOR’S NOTE The “zero”
in zero-emissions refers
specifically to vehicle tailpipe ICONS:^ELIAS^ STEINYour Feedback
WRITEGo to
CR.org/lettertoeditor
to share your comments
for publication.8 CR.ORG FEBRUARY 2020