BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2502| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2502 Author: Blumenfield (D) Amended: 5/8/12 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 7/3/12 AYES: Evans, Blakeslee, Corbett, Leno NO VOTE RECORDED: Harman ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/14/12 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Vehicles: conditional sale contracts SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill revise the automobile conditional sales contract law to allow electric vehicle charging stations to be sold with, and financed as part, of an automobile purchase, with a required disclosure regarding charges. ANALYSIS : Existing law, the Rees-Levering Motor Vehicle Sales and Finance Act, sets forth numerous disclosure requirements to be included in an automobile conditional sale contract, including disclosures regarding finance charges, and sets forth the permissible fees and charges in an automobile conditional sale contract for the sale of a motor vehicle. (Civil Code Section 2982 et seq.) CONTINUED AB 2502 Page 2 This bill adds a required disclosure regarding charges for an electric vehicle charging station, which must be labeled "EV Charging Station" and may include materials, wiring, and equipment installation, each of which shall be separately itemized. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 7/6/12) Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers California New Car Dealers Association ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author: We are at the beginning of a new era in car technology: that of electric vehicles. Those models currently on the market come with primary chargers which allow the cars to plug in to a normal electric outlet, though they require hours to fully charge the battery. Level 2 Chargers (so-called secondary chargers) are also available for purchase. Most of these secondary chargers are charging stations that can be installed in electric vehicle owner's places of residence. They use 220 to 240V to charge the car battery and thus, can reduce the charge time by more than half. These secondary chargers costs upwards of $1,000, yet cannot be financed with the car purchase itself because they are not considered accessories under current law. There is no place on the conditional sales contract to document a charge for such an item. This provides a barrier to car buyers who are interested in purchasing an electric vehicle, and the secondary charger along with it. Although they can finance the car, they must find alternative financing to purchase the secondary charger- which, for many, is the feature that would make owning an electric car feasible (due to reducing charging times). AB 2502 creates a line on the conditional sales contract so that secondary chargers may be financed AB 2502 Page 3 with the vehicle. Other add on items, such as Lo-Jack and On-Star, already can be financed with the vehicle itself. This would be a similar such item, except it is not installed in the vehicle itself, but rather in the vehicle owner's residence. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 05/14/12 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Atkins, Fletcher, Perea, Valadao RJG:nd 8/17/12 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****