EVs
Colorado will join California and nine other states in requiring that a percentage of new light-duty vehicle sales are zero-emissions, thanks to the first executive order signed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis on Jan. 17.
Colorado Politics
U.S. sales of plug-in electric vehicles, including those with internal combustion engines, increased by 81 percent in 2018 over 2017. But if you remove the best-selling Tesla Model 3 from the mix, the increase drops to 11 percent.
Greentech Media
What's the best way to ensure that electric vehicle drivers pay to maintain the roads they drive on, considering they don't pay fuel taxes? A new report from the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies was sent to the California legislature.
UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies
As many as 215,000 owners of mostly electric vehicles purchased before 2017 lost their privilege to access carpool lanes on New Year's Day. The main purpose of HOV lanes is to reduce congestion.
Capital Public Radio
While Trump wants to end the EV credit program, in part to punish GM for closing unprofitable car manufacturing plants, Norway is scaling back the generous perks that have enabled EV sales to comprise almost half on new auto sales.
CityLab
According to a new report by the California Air Resources Board, even if electric vehicle sales were to increase tenfold, it would not reduce emissions from transportation enough to meet a 2030 climate goal. A major reduction in driving is needed.
Los Angeles Times
As California tries to stem its increasing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, its capital, Sacramento, may prove to be a model for other cities as it embraces electric vehicles and strategies to reduce driving.
Curbed
It's well known that an electric vehicle is only as clean, from a greenhouse gas perspective, as the electricity it consumes to power it. A new study finds that the electricity used in the manufacturing of car batteries also must be considered.
Bloomberg News
A new report from the International Energy Association projects that petrochemicals will be the largest driver of oil consumption, greatly increasing greenhouse gas emissions and offsetting the effect of electric vehicles on oil demand.
Reuters
Neighborhood electric vehicles may become more popular in California's second most populous county thanks to legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The small zero-emission vehicles are prohibited from crossing streets with speed limits above 35 mph.
KPBS
The good news: the Clean Air Vehicle program for electric vehicles will be extended for at least three years. The bad news: not all EVs that have a decal now will be able to be renewed. Congestion on HOV and HOT lanes is a major concern.
Los Angeles Times
On the second day of the Global Climate Action Summit, co-host Gov. Jerry Brown signed 16 bills onboard a new plug-in hybrid electric ferry in San Francisco Bay to spur sales of zero-emission vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Sacramento Bee
An exemption to an existing law was removed Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that affords tenants in rent-controlled buildings the same right to request electric vehicle charging capability as renters in unregulated apartments.
Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. (California)
A controversial new sales tax on motor vehicles in a state with no sales taxes survived a court challenge. As a result, Oregon consumers will have another reason to consider purchasing or leasing an electric vehicle: receiving up to a $5,000 rebate.
Utility Dive
On Thursday, the U.S. DOT and U.S. EPA announced one of the Trump administration's most consequential rollbacks of environmental and efficiency regulations that will have a detrimental effect on climate change, air pollution, and oil consumption.
The Washington Post
New York Times climate reporter, Brad Plumer, comments on California's landmark accomplishment in reducing emissions, observing that with the low-hanging electricity generation fruit picked, reducing transportation emissions will prove formidable.
The New York Times
CPUC Commissioner Carla Peterman explains the state's investment plan for building out electric vehicle charging stations in public spaces and homes.
The Planning Report
Two new reports on the outlook of electric vehicles paint a bright future for the new technology. No country is more critical than China, where policies will force global auto companies to invest in clean technology if they want to have a future.
CNBC
The investment comes not from the state legislature but from two regulatory bodies, the Air Resources Board and the Public Utilities Commission, authorizing the expenditure of VW settlement funds and utility ratepayer funds, respectively.
San Francisco Chronicle
The American passenger vehicle fleet is being transformed into bigger, fuel-thirstier, and more dangerous models (for those hit by them). Americans have shown a preference for light trucks, and manufacturers are responding by ditching cars.
Car and Driver
