California environment officials announced an ambitious plan this week meant to end the sale of new gas-fueled vehicles in the state.
CNBC reports the California Air Resources Board has proposed the state require 35% of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2026, then 68% by 2030, and finally 100% by 2035. The board says vehicles powered by batteries or hydrogen currently make up 12% of auto sales. The proposal would not ban people from owning or selling used gas-powered vehicles. If the proposal is adopted by the California Air Resources Board this summer, the regulations would be the first ever adopted in the world. At least 15 other states have pledged to follow California’s lead on clean-car rules and standards, and the federal government usually follows.
Carrying out Governor Gavin Newsom 2020 executive order on ending the sale of gas-powered cars in California by 2035, the new proposal sets in motion the public regulatory process for car selling. Public comments will be collected for 45 days on the new proposal, then a hearing will be held on June 9 and the board is expected to vote later this year in August.
“This is a hugely important inflection point. This rule finally, definitively puts us on the path to 100% zero-emission vehicles,” said Daniel Sperling, a member of the Air Resources Board and founding director of the University of California, Davis Institute of Transportation Studies.