General Motors Corporation filed suit on Feb. 23 seeking to invalidate a recently approved California mandate which requires major automakers to offer as many as three million electric and low-polluting cars for sale in the state over the next decade, according to Reuters. GM said it decided to sue after the state's Air Resources Board denied GM's petition for a hearing on several key consumer and technical issues posed by the regulation. The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Contra Costa County, asks a judge to review the state's January Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The automaker has already unsuccessfully petitioned the air resources board to repeal the rule. GM contends that the air resources board has violated California laws by overlooking the effects of the regulation -- which could cost the automaker hundreds of millions of dollars to comply -- and declining to consider alternatives. It also said the regulation could force it to put thousands of light-weight, "golf-cart like" vehicles on the road, which could be unsafe and lead to lawsuits against the company. Jerry Martin, a spokesman for the air resources board, said the lawsuit came as no surprise since the automaker has vociferously opposed the mandate. The lawsuit could also potentially affect similar rules in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts which are set to follow California's lead in adopting the zero emission mandate. The air resources board decision marked the end of more than a decade of contention over electric cars and California's clean air goals, setting the stage for a major roll-out of electric and low pollution vehicles in California between 2003 and 2018. Environmental groups hailed the rule as a national clean air revolution, but critics said the move was short-sighted, and would force them to bring to market expensive, experimental vehicles that the public would probably not accept. Under the mandate, major automakers must offer 4,650 electric cars for sale as well as some 100,000 other "clean air" alternatives such as hybrids, fuel cell and clean engine vehicles. These numbers increase over time and gradually expand to include sports utility vehicles.