Beginning of the End: California Will Completely Ban the Sale of New Gasoline Cars
Manufacturers will no longer be allowed to sell any gasoline-fueled cars in California by 2035.
California is poised to become the first state—and likely the first world government of any kind—to detail how it's going to ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars over the course of the next decade, according to a report from theNew York Times. The powerful California Air Resources Board (CARB) is expected to accept the proposal this week.
California has some of the toughest emissions laws in the country already, so it is not surprising that it would take the lead as the first state to make this major move toward cleaner air and less gasoline. Despite being the first state to enact such a law, it is almost a sure thing that other states will follow California's lead. In the past, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington have typically followed what CARB proposes. That would add up to be at least 15 states, or about a third of the Union, if they take Cali's lead.
High gas prices, impressive technology, and generous tax incentives have already encouraged buyers across the U.S. to make the switch to EVs. Love it or hate it Tesla has led the charge in electric vehicle adoption and other automakers have followed. Electric cars like the Kia EV6 are in high demand as well as electric trucks like the Rivian R1T and the Ford F-150 Lightning.
Automakers have seen the writing on the wall and have already prepared themselves for the coming electric vehicle future. BMW, Nissan, Toyota, and other major auto manufacturers have already announced self-imposed mandates to make most, if not all of their vehicle offering line up BEVs or hybrids by 2040. However, California is not simply going to take their word for it.
While the goal of the plan is for 100% of new car sales to be zero emission vehicles (ZEV) by 2035, the plan starts to put restrictions in place as soon as 2026. In 2026, 35% of an automaker's production volume must be ZEVs. That includes passenger vehicles and light duty trucks. Each year after, that percentage requirement will increase by approximately 8% until it eventually hits the 100% requirement by 2035.
There are other challenges to consider as well. According to theTimes' report, John Bozzella, President of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation thinks California's requirements will be "extremely challenging" for automakers to meet. "Whether or not these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly linked to external factors like inflation, charging and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labor, critical mineral availability and pricing, and the ongoing semiconductor shortage," said Bozzella in an email to theTimes.
It is unclear if a federal mandate will follow in the coming decade that would completely ban the sale of new fossil fueled vehicles for the entire country by a certain date, but following California's lead and considering the focus on infrastructure from the Biden administration, it would not be unrealistic to consider the possibility.
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Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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