The Future of EVs Is Foggy-but California Still Wants More of Them

"Just this month: Ford announced a retrenchment in its EV business, canceling some battery-powered vehicle plans and delaying others; the European Commission proposed to backtrack its goal to transition fully to zero-emission cars by 2035; the US government said it would loosen rules that would have required automakers to ratchet up the fuel economy of their fleets. BloombergNEF projects 14 million fewer EVs will be sold in the US by 2030 than it did last year-a 20 percent drop."

"What has not changed, it seems, is California's interest in shifting to cleaner transportation. "The state is doubling down on our zero-emission vehicle deployment, providing market certainty, and continuing to lead on clean transportation regardless of policy reversals elsewhere or shifts by automakers," Anthony Martinez, a spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom, wrote in a statement to WIRED. He said the governor's "commitment to accelerating California's clean transportation transition hasn't changed.""

"In 2020, Newsom became one of the first lawmakers in the world to commit to full electrification when he signed an executive order directing state agencies to create rules that would ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in the state by 2035. Those rules eventually aimed to ratchet up the share of battery-electric vehicles, with an ultimate goal of a mix of pure EVs and plug-in hybrids."

Automakers and regulators have recently scaled back electric-vehicle ambitions: Ford curtailed EV plans, the European Commission signaled retreat from a full 2035 zero-emission goal, and the U.S. federal government loosened proposed fuel-economy rules. BloombergNEF now projects about 14 million fewer EVs will be sold in the U.S. by 2030 compared with prior estimates, a roughly 20 percent decline. California is reaffirming its commitment to shifting toward cleaner transportation, pledging market certainty and continued leadership on zero-emission vehicle deployment. In 2020, the governor issued an executive order to ban new gas-powered car sales by 2035 and target a mix of battery-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Several other states pledged similar targets, and a congressional revocation of California’s clean-air authority has prompted a still-pending legal challenge.

Read at WIRED