Create Regulatory Exemptions for Small Vehicles

Get your legislators to create regulatory exemptions for vehicles that are sold in small annual volumes.

Right now, it costs about $250 million to bring a new vehicle through all the safety and other regulatory requirements and $1 billion to build the factory that can produce such vehicles in volume. Is it any wonder that there is so little innovation happening in the automotive industry?

I know that the UK has such an exemption, and I think that the rest of Europe does too.  If we want innovation in vehicles we need to be able to experiment, adapt, iterate and evolve.

Right now, that just can’t happen. Metro-Detroit and Michigan is filled with willing and experienced innovators whose hands are tied by regulation. We need to open that up!

[Editor’s note: To help launch Xconomy Detroit, we’ve queried our network of Xconomists and other innovation leaders around the country for their list of the most important things that entrepreneurs and innovators in Michigan can do to reinvigorate their regional economy.]

Author: Robin Chase

Robin Chase leads Meadow Networks, a consulting firm that advises city, state, and federal government agencies about wireless applications in the transportation sector, and their impacts on innovation and economic development. Robin is also founder and former CEO of GoLoco, an online ridesharing community, and Zipcar, the largest carsharing company in the world. Robin serves on the US Department of Transportation Intelligent Transportation Systems Advisory Committee, the Board of the World Resources Institute, and the World Economic Forum Transportation Council. She also served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Transportation Transition Working Group, and the Boston Mayor’s Wireless Task Force. Robin lectures widely, has been frequently featured in the major media, and has received many awards in the areas of innovation, design, and environment, including Time 100 Most Influential People, Fast Company Fast 50 Innovators, and BusinessWeek Top 10 Designers. Robin graduated from Wellesley College and MIT's Sloan School of Management, and was a Harvard University Loeb Fellow.