The Air Resources Board (CARB) of California has decided to outlaw the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035. Daniel Sperling, a member of the CARB board, told CNN on Wednesday that “this is big.” It’s crucial for the nation and the entire planet, not just for California. In 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles as an executive order. All new cars sold after 2035 must comply with the CARB Advanced Clean Cars II rule, which stipulates this requirement.
According to the staff study on the Advanced Clean Cars II regulation, emissions from motor vehicle engines negatively impact the public’s health, welfare, the environment, and the climate in a number of interconnected ways. These emission cuts will lower the likelihood of severe drought and wildfires, as well as the fine particulate matter pollution they will cause. The CARB board promised to make zero-emission vehicles more accessible to Californians in a tweet following the vote on Thursday.
California moves to accelerate to 100% new #ZEV sales by 2035 with first-in-nation #EV regulation that will clean up the air in our communities & save consumers money.
➡️https://t.co/zLiipWh8Ui#CleanAir #ClimateAction pic.twitter.com/L9OdvTOvOb— CARB (@AirResources) August 25, 2022
The rule will be implemented in stages, gradually reducing the number of gas-powered vehicles on the road. By 2026, 35% of newly sold passenger vehicles would need to be battery- or hydrogen-powered, followed by 51% by 2028, 68% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. The strategy includes aims for normal passenger automobiles as well as a target date of 2045 for zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles.
The proposal will permit Californians to continue using their gasoline-powered vehicles. Additionally, used gas vehicles can still be bought and sold by drivers. State officials are urging users to switch to electric vehicles by offering incentives like the federal tax credit that was recently authorized as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. Approximately 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions in California are currently caused by the state’s transportation industry.
In actuality, the state’s largest source of greenhouse gases, pollution, and hazardous particles comes from gas and diesel-powered automobiles. The new strategy aims to reduce these emissions. The proposal sets stricter rules for gas-powered automobiles and trucks in addition to expanding sales of zero-emission vehicles. California has the largest zero-emission vehicle market in the nation, according to CARB statistics. According to CARB, 16% of all cars sold in the state are plug-in hybrids or zero-emission vehicles.
According to a CARB staff assessment, “the industry has quickly adjusted to increasing market pressures, customer needs, and regulatory requirements in California, across the United States, and around the world.” Every manufacturer has publicly stated their intention to significantly electrify their product lines over the next 20 years, if not completely. According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a number of significant automakers have already stated that they are taking steps to enhance their manufacturing of clean car vehicles.
According to a statement from John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, “automakers are making huge investments in electrification, including manufacturing facilities and collaborations to build vehicles, batteries, and components inside the United States.” This dedication is creating industry-changing EVs and revolutionizing transportation.
Ford issued a statement in which it declared its support for California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule and its commitment to working with the state to achieve zero-emission mobility. Bob Holycross, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ford, stated, “We’re dedicated to establishing a zero-emissions transportation future that embraces everyone, supported by our own investments of more than $50 billion by 2026 in EVs and batteries.”
The CARB Advanced Clean Cars II rule is a historic regulation that will define clean transportation and serve as a model for the US. Reducing the price of electric vehicles and making them more accessible is another objective of California’s plan. 40% of drivers in the state have already stated that their “next vehicle” will be an electric vehicle, according to the CARB staff report. Additionally, CARB predicts that as more zero-emission vehicles become accessible, the price of electric automobiles for the consumer will decrease.
The board predicted on its website that “when the cost of batteries continues to decline, the price of a battery-electric car would eventually become the same as a combustion engine vehicle.” According to research published recently by Consumer Reports, battery electric vehicles can already save buyers thousands of dollars throughout the course of the vehicle compared to conventional cars, and up to $4,700 in gasoline costs in only the first seven years.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation acknowledges the push toward zero-emission vehicles and supports it, but is concerned that the plan’s target is too lofty given considerations like inflation, labor shortages, and charger accessibility.
Inflation, infrastructure for charging and fueling vehicles, supply chains, labor costs, the price and availability of critical minerals, and the ongoing shortage of semiconductors are just a few examples of the external factors that directly affect whether or not these requirements are realistic or attainable, according to Bozzella. “Neither CARB nor the auto industry has any real control over these concerns since they are so complicated, interconnected, and global.”
Others are concerned that the decline in financing from gas taxes would eventually cause the state’s infrastructure and roads to deteriorate. These groups include the California Alliance for Jobs and the Fix Our Roads Coalition. Losing tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure funding, according to Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, “will decimate the quality of our roads and bridges, jeopardize safety, decrease mobility, cripple public transit, and result in more traffic congestion.
” Additionally, according to Quigley, the Advanced Clean Cars II rule will cause employment losses. Numerous middle-class construction occupations will be destroyed by funding reductions of that size, according to Quigley. “Rather of waiting until it’s too late, California’s leaders need to come up with alternatives to replace this cash right away.”
