California Reveals Its Plan to Phase Out New Gas-Powered Cars by 2035

California made public an aggressive plan to mandate a steady increase in the sale of electric and zero-emissions vehicles, the first step in implementing a first-in-the-nation goal of banning new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.

35 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the state of California by 2026 will be powered by batteries or hydrogen, under a proposed rule issued by the California Air Resources Board. The state expects 100 percent of new car sales to be free of fossil fuel emissions.

It would be a big leap. According to the board, 12.4 percent of new vehicles sold in California are zero-emissions.

If the board finalizes the plan in August, it will set the bar for the nation's automobile industry. California is the largest auto market in the United States and the 10th largest in the world. 15 other states, including New York, Massachusetts and North Carolina, have already followed California's moves regarding tailpipe emissions.

Daniel Sperling is the director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. He said the proposed rule will send a signal to the global auto market.

He said that other countries and other states watch what California does.

President Biden's climate agenda is faltering. Mr. Biden signed an executive order last year calling for the government to try to ensure that half of all vehicles sold in the United States are electric by 2030. Legislation that would allocate billions of dollars in electric vehicle tax incentives has been stuck in the Senate. Under pressure to alleviate high gas prices, the president has been urging oil companies to drill for more oil.

The automakers did not respond to the requests for comment. In a joint statement last year, Ford, General GM and Stellantis, the auto company formed this year after the merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot, announced their shared aspiration to achieve sales of 40 to 50 percent electric vehicles nationally by 2030.

They need the government's support to translate their ambitions into action.

California's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions is transportation.

The proposed rule puts into motion an executive order that the governor issued in 2020. 35 percent of new cars and light trucks must be zero-emissions by the year 2026. The percentage will increase to 100 percent in 2035. 20 percent of new sales can be plug-in hybrid.

The rule will eliminate more greenhouse gas emissions than the state emits in the next two decades.

The plan says that emission reductions will help stabilizing the climate and reduce the risk of wildfire and fine particulate matter pollution.

Some environmental groups were against the plan. The measure has improved since an earlier draft, according to Don Anair, deputy director of the clean transportation program. He said that California's air resource board will make the most important climate decision this year.

Scott Hochberg, a transportation attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, accused California of taking a slow road and called for the state to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2030.

Building charging stations for vehicles and persuading consumers to buy electric vehicles were some of the challenges that Mr. Sperling noted. The final 20 to 30 percent would be the hardest part of the transition and would require new policies and incentives.

We can't get people to buy electric cars. We have to get creative about making these vehicles attractive and compelling to consumers even beyond their inherent attributes.