By: DSIRE Insight Team
The Governor of California attracted a lot of attention in September 2020 when he signed an Executive Order calling on regulators in the state to require all passenger cars and trucks sold in California by 2035 to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). State policymakers across the country have taken a wide variety of approaches to building robust markets for electric vehicles (EVs), but will any other state follow California’s lead and directly ban the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles?
According to research conducted by the DSIRE Insight team, six states, including California, have considered legislation in the past two years that would establish goals or requirements to transition passenger vehicles to zero-emission or electric vehicles. While most of these bills have failed to pass, two states have been successful in passing legislation, although both bills stop short of outright banning the sale of emission-producing vehicles.
Electric Vehicle Adoption Target Bills (2019-2020)
California
The Executive Order signed by Governor Newsom followed three unsuccessful attempts by the state legislature over the past two years to adopt different EV adoption targets. A.B. 40, introduced in December 2018, would have required the State Air Resources Board to develop a comprehensive strategy by January 1, 2021 to ensure that all new motor vehicle and light-duty truck sales are ZEVs by 2040. The bill moved from committee to committee during 2019 and 2020, but ultimately died. A.B. 1411, which was introduced in 2019, also died in 2020. The bill would have established a state goal for the deployment of 200,000 zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and off-road vehicles and equipment, and the corresponding infrastructure to support them, by 2030.
A.B. 1046, introduced in 2019, would increase the goal of the Charge Ahead California Initiative from placing in service at least 1 million zero-emission and near-zero-emission vehicles by January 1, 2023, to placing in service of at least 5 million ZEVs by January 1, 2030. The Assembly passed the bill in May 2019. While the bill is still technically alive, it has not seen any action since being referred to the Committee on Appropriations in August 2019.
Hawaii
Hawaii lawmakers have considered the greatest number of bills related to EV adoption targets. Six bills were introduced in either 2019 or 2020, though none managed to pass even one chamber. H.B. 1320 and S.B. 1338, both introduced in 2019, would have prohibited the sale of internal combustion vehicles after December 31, 2029; while H.B. 2396 and S.B. 2580 would have prohibited new fossil fuel vehicles from being used for commercial transportation in 2025 and thereafter. H.B. 1370 and S.B. 996, meanwhile, would have required motor vehicle lessors to have increasing percentages of light-duty passenger vehicles in their rental fleets be zero-emission by certain dates.
Massachusetts
Lawmakers in Massachusetts introduced five bills in 2019 to establish EV adoption targets for different sectors. While the bills are still technically alive, none has passed a chamber yet. H. 3121 would adopt a target of 50% EVs by December 31, 2030 for transit agencies and school bus operators. H. 2872 and S. 1927 focus on state and municipal fleets, fleets used for commercial ride-sharing and ride-hailing, fleets used for public transportation, and fleets used as commercial motor carriers, freight services, limousine services, and taxis. The bills would require 50% of these fleet vehicles to be low-emission or zero-emission by 2025, increasing to 75% by 2030, and 100% by 2035. H. 2869 and S. 2116, meanwhile, apply broadly and require all vehicles submitting an application for original registration to be ZEVs beginning January 1, 2038.
New Jersey
New Jersey lawmakers introduced three bills in 2018, which carried over into the 2019 session. S.B. 2252, signed into law in January 2020, established a goal for at least 85% of all light-duty vehicles sold or leased in the state to be plug-in EVs by December 31, 2040. Additionally, by December 31, 2020, goals for medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicle electrification are to be developed. A.B. 3688 and S.B. 1975, meanwhile, would have established statewide goals for the adoption of PEVs and EV charging infrastructure. Some of the end goals include having two million registered PEVs by 2035 and having 90% of all vehicles sold be PEVs in 2040.
Oregon
S.B. 623, which was introduced in 2019, would have required that a person whose residence is in a county with a population of 600,000 or more cannot register a new vehicle in the state after December 31, 2034 unless the vehicle is a new EV.
Washington
Two bills were introduced in 2019 to establish EV adoption targets. Both bills carried over into the 2020 session and one bill died while the other was signed into law. S.B. 5811, enacted in March 2020, adopts the California ZEV program for use in Washington. This program requires a certain percentage of vehicles produced and delivered to Washington for sale to be ZEVs. H.B. 2515, meanwhile, would have required all privately owned and publicly owned light duty vehicles of model year 2030 or later sold or registered in the state to be EVs.
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Keep up with legislation related to electric and zero-emission vehicles with the 50 States of Electric Vehicles reports or DSIRE Insight’s biweekly EV policy tracking reports.