SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KGTV) — California has taken a historic step forward on Thursday to make a dent in our state's climate goals. The state voted to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
That means that new cars must be zero-emission vehicles, so either electric or hydrogen-powered.
But there are concerns as to how this will be achieved. That includes the availability of charging stations, if the power grid can handle this, and the cost of electric vehicles.
An energy expert says that our state has been a leader in de-carbonizing the electric grid and renewables. He says the move should be a win-win for everyone. But there are some challenges and things that still need to be ironed out, like making sure we have enough charging stations to meet our goals.
Jae Kim, a professor at USD says that California is paving the way for other states.
"I don't see any other way, we need to make this transition," he shares.
The move to sell zero-emission vehicles by 2035 is in line with the state's clean energy goals. The question is if California is ready to have more electric vehicles on the road?
"So that's a very difficult question to answer," he shares. "In terms of the actual physical load wise, yes we can take on the load. The question is when are people going to charge their vehicles? If everyone charges at the same time, then yea no grid is going to bee ready for that. But if they charge it in a more organized, more predictable way then we can plan it to make sure it works properly."
The other roadblock is making sure with all these new vehicles, there's a place to charge.
"Range anxiety is a real issue," he explains. "For electric vehicles, there are not enough charging stations out there."
Kim furthers, "It's kind of like a chicken and egg problem. If you are an EV charger provider, you are not going to invest in something that has a small market base, you need more EVs out there so you can build out large EV charging structures."
By 2026, automakers will need at least 35% of their cars and trucks to be all-electric, plug-in hybrids, or hydrogen fuel cells.
That will increase by 8% every year until 2030, and by 6% increments until 2035.
"No auto manufacturer is going to try and make two different vehicles for the US," shares Kim. "Whatever the California standards are they will match those because it's going to be stricter than anywhere else."
The other concern is where we will gather the materials to create these EVs. Kim says plans for supplies still remain to be seen.
"They are being produced in countries that don't have as strict environmental regulations. So in order to reduce our emissions in the US are we just polluting other places around the world?" asks Kim.
The board recognizes they do not have every answer. They plan to re-evaluate certain areas of this proposal on a yearly and tri-annual basis.
Now people who currently own gas vehicles will not have to give them up by 2035. Consumers can also still purchase a used gas vehicle.
Another challenge Kim says this regulation presents is getting consumers to want to buy EVs.
"Asking consumers to drop their convenience of going to any gas station they want to fill up their car, now they look around where is the charger area, is it going to be available for me and at what cost?" he explains. "Those are, you are kinda putting a lot of extra burden on the consumer, are they going to be ready for that transition?"
According to the California Air Resources Board, more than 16% of California's new car sales are electric cars.
But there is skepticism on whether or not people want that number to go up.
"I think the challenge is going to be convincing the consumer, you and I, to make that switch as soon as possible. And I think that's going to be easier and easier with declining costs as more people buy them."
Currently, four other states, Washington, Vermont, Oregon, and Massachusetts plan to adopt this plan by the end of this year.
Kim believes the biggest incentive is having the EVs at a good price point. But even providing those rebates poses a challenge.
"For a regular Sedan, it's around 55 thousand, so anything above 55 thousand you don't get the incentive, and I think for trucks and SUVs it's 80 thousand," he explains. "And there's also income caps, so if you make above a certain amount you don't get the subsidies as well."
The Board projects by 2025, automakers will be offering 179 zero-emission options, and buyers will save as much as $7,500 dollars within the first ten years of owning an electric vehicle.
"A lot of these things are going to take time for people to get educated, etc," Kim shares. "But with the current trend, EVs will be competitive even without these incentives."
The next step is for the board to submit this proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency for federal approval.
