Today, California is expected to announce the State will ban the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles from 2035. This will mean that from 2035 all new cars sold in California will need to be zero emissions electric vehicles (EVs).
Gavin Newsome, the governor of California, made an announcement back in 2020 that this needed to happen to reduce pollution in the air, especially as the State is the worst in the country. Newson has said this ban will cut greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent in the nation’s most populous state.
As part of the move towards the total ban in 2035, the State will also enforce the motion that 35 percent of new vehicles sold will need to be zero emissions by 2026. This will increase to 68 percent of vehicles sold by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035 when the ban comes into full force.
This is a big move and other states in the US have followed suit including Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington.
Unfortunately, the ban on sales of ICE vehicles is only the start of creating a path to a cleaner future. The ban doesn’t mean the end of ICE vehicles. These will still be able to drive on the road and sold secondhand but this is a huge step forward.
Some would argue that this isn’t happening soon enough with the UK and many European companies enforcing the ban on sales of ICE vehicles sooner in 2030. Some countries, including Norway, which has been truly progressive in their transition to electric vehicles, are taking this even further with the ban coming into force in 2025. Belgium is expected to follow suit in 2026 with Austria in 2027.
Kathy Harris, Clean Vehicles and Fuels Advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said: “This will help to accelerate the transition and give a signal that customers and states are ready for this transition to occur rapidly.”
Hopefully, this will also push the automakers to speed up their transition to electric vehicles. All the big players including Ford, General Motors and Toyota have all announced they see the future as electric and are making big moves in this direction with huge investments.
Bob Holycross, Chief Sustainability Officer at Ford, said: “At Ford, combatting climate change is a strategic priority, and we’re proud of our partnership with California for stronger vehicle emissions standards, forged during a time when climate action was under attack.
“We’re committed to building a zero-emissions transportation future that includes everyone, backed by our own investments of more than $50 billion by 2026 in EVs and batteries. The CARB Advanced Clean Cars II rule is a landmark standard that will define clean transportation and set an example for the United States.”
