The California Air Resources Board has issued a rule that formally bans the sale of fully gas-powered vehicles in the state by 2035. The regulations come two years after Governor Gavin Newsom the agency to develop “passenger vehicle and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission vehicles sold in the state towards the target of 100 percent of in-state sales by 2035.”
Fortunately for Californians, the policy will not ban people from continuing to drive gas cars or from buying and selling them on the used market after 2035. The rule will also allow automakers to sell up to 20% plug-in hybrids, which have gas engines, by 2035.
The rule does phase out such vehicles over time, requiring 35% of total new vehicle sales to be powered by batteries or hydrogen by 2026 and 68% by 2030. More than 16% of new cars sold in California in 2022 were zero-emissions vehicles, the state said, up from 12.41% in 2021 and 7.78% in 2020.
Many long-standing manufacturers and car brands have already announced plans to fully switch to EVs by 2035. Bentley aims to sell only plug-in hybrids and EVs by 2026. Mercedes and Volvo plan to go fully electric by 2030. General Motors expects to finalize a similar transition by 2035. Honda has set a target of 2040. Ford, meanwhile, has pledged to fully switch to EVs in Europe by 2030.
