A Dozen New Laws to Spur Sales of Zero Emission Vehicles in California

Gov. Jerry Brown signed 12 bills on Oct. 10 to facilitate the transition from oil-powered light and heavy duty vehicles to electric power in California, and thus meet his goal of putting 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2025.

2 minute read

October 13, 2017, 1:00 PM PDT

By Irvin Dawid


Electric Car Charging Station

Mike Flippo / Shutterstock

As a result of Tuesday's bill-signings, electric vehicles (EVs) will continue to drive in carpool lanes and may soon be able to charge their vehicles at state parks and beaches as part of a pilot program. EVs could also charge on city streets should a city decide to authorize curbside chargers.

Whether the new laws will stem the increase in greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, blamed in part not so much to fleet composition but the increase in vehicle-miles-traveled, may have to wait till the new greenhouse gas inventory report issued by the California Air Resources Board.

Joseph Bebon describes the remaining eight bills (six listed below) signed by Gov. Brown for NGT News, an online news site covering alternative fuel vehicles.

Not all bills specifically promote electric vehicles. Some target older, more polluting vehicles, and ensure they are replaced with cleaner ones:

The ultimate legislation, to simply "ban the sale of new cars powered by internal-combustion engines after 2040" is under consideration by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), reports Alexei Koseff on Sept. 29 for The Sacramento Bee. Gov. Brown has expressed interest in enacting such a ban.

Hat tip to AASHTO Daily Transportation Update.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017 in NGT News

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