The future of electric vehicles is murky, but California still wants more of them

It was a A strange and confusing few weeks for the auto industry, especially for those who were hoping to see more batteries on the road in the next decade.

This month only: Ford announced Reducing it Eve businesses, canceling some battery-powered vehicle plans and delaying others; proposed by the European Commission Backing away from her goal to move completely zero-emission cars by 2035; The US government said so It would relax the rules That would have required automakers to increase the fuel economy of their fleets. BloombergNEF Projects 14 million fewer electric vehicles will be sold in the United States by 2030 than last year, a 20 percent decrease.

What has not seemed to change is California’s interest in switching to cleaner means of transportation. “The state is redoubling its efforts to deploy zero-emission vehicles, providing market certainty, and continuing to lead on clean transportation regardless of policy reversals elsewhere or shifts by automakers,” Anthony Martinez, a spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom, wrote in a statement to WIRED. “The governor’s commitment to accelerating California’s clean transportation transition has not changed,” he said.

In 2020, Newsom became one of the first lawmakers in the world to commit to full electrification when He signed an executive order Directs state agencies to establish rules that would ban the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035. These rules are ultimately intended to increase the share of battery electric vehicles, with an ultimate goal of a mix of pure and hybrid electric vehicles. (PHEVs can only account for about 20 percent of sales.) Several other states, including Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington state, have pledged to do the same.

Earlier this year, The GOP-led Congress, through legislation, repealed itCalifornia’s authority to set its own clean air regulations. The state responded with a lawsuit that is still pending. Meanwhile, Newsom signed on Another executive order Directing state agencies to advance the state’s electrification goals in other ways.

Now auto industry experts and players say the country’s determination to push through policy and market changes to meet its now half-a-decade goal may be overly ambitious.

“Getting to 100 percent can be difficult,” says Stephanie Valdez Streety, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive. “There are a lot of headwinds.”

A coalition California business groups have argued that the state’s goals even for next year — a requirement that 35 percent of cars sold in 2026 be zero-emissions — are not realistic, and that California should roll back its targets for zero-emission new car sales. (Enforcement of the rules is being paused while the larger battle with the US Congress continues.) Zero-emission vehicles accounted for 21% of total annual new vehicle sales in the state as of the fall. according to California New Car Dealers Association, well short of the 35 percent goal. “The timeline needs to be adjusted,” says the group’s president, Brian Maas.