In October, California stunned landscapers and homeowners with proposed legislation to ban the sale of new small off-road engines. But the legislation doesn’t just impact lawncare – it also seeks to replace the generators used in RVs with battery power stations. RV owners, buyers and dealerships are concerned.
Assembly Bill No. 1346 bans the sale of small off-road engines in California by 2024. The state defines a small off-road engine as a spark-ignition engine that makes 25 horsepower or less in equipment. Portable generators are considered small off-road engines, including the generators of RVs. The bill has RV owners concerned, and as RV PRO reports, the California Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association is planning to fight the legislation.
Generators play a crucial role in RVs – they don’t need to park up at a campground and feed from shore power if it can generate its own power. Generators allow access to power just about anywhere, as long as there’s fuel. But for all of their usefulness, generators are known for heavy emissions. The California Air Resources Board says that the average 3.5 hp generator running at a 1.8kW load for 1 hour emits as much pollution as driving a car about 150 miles. It’s not surprising that the state wants to eliminate sales of small engines like the ones used in lawnmowers and generators.
The bill suggests that these generators will be replaced by “zero-emission generators.” These are sometimes called battery generators, but in reality, they’re just giant portable battery power banks with household plugs coming out of them.
Read the full story by Mercedes Streeter at Jalopnik here.
