New Jersey calls for the ban of sales of combustion engine vehicles and move to electric cars by 2035

Last week New Jersey officials called for a ban on combustion engine car sales by 2035. This is a move that makes the state the first outside of California to try and implement this policy. The proposal came from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as part of its map into the future where it aims to reduce CO2 by 80 percent by the year 2050.

At present over half a million polluting petrol and diesel cars are sold annually in New Jersey. For the state to meet their goals the DEP believes they need to pass rules and regulations to convert these sales to electric cars by 2035. The plan hopes that utility regulators, and environmental and economic development officials should facilitate the transition.

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These recommendations came less than a month after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on September 23, which aims to ban the sale of internal combustion engine cars and lorries in the state by 2035.

For the 2035 ban to be carried out in New Jersey the governor or the Legislature would need to pass a law or implement the change through executive directives. Other states have contemplated phasing out petrol cars but California’s actions could influence others to follow.

Colorado is one state that sees 100 percent electric cars and vehicle sales in its future with officials releasing a plan back in April, but they didn’t offer a timeline for this to happen. Washington state has also looked into banning combustion engine car sales by 2030 and tried to pass a bill earlier this year that unfortunately failed.

New Jersey’s governor and its Democratic-controlled Legislature want the state to be a leader when it comes to clean energy, enacting one of the country’s first laws to cut CO2 emissions completely from its power sector.

A separate law created last year offers rebates for electric cars, while setting a target of 330,000 electric car and vehicles sales by 2025, and then requiring all state-owned cars and vehicles to be electric by 2035.

Ian Osborne
Ian Osborne
Editor-in-Chief at ElectricDrives

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