California governor directs CARB to develop regulations to achieve 100% ZEV car sales by 2035

24 September 2020

California governor Gavin Newsom announced that he will “aggressively move the state further away from its reliance on climate change-causing fossil fuels while retaining and creating jobs and spurring economic growth”. He issued executive order N-79-20 that sets goals for the adoption of zero emission vehicles (ZEV).

These ZEV goals for the state of California are:

1. 100% of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks are to be zero-emission by 2035.
2. 100% of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles be zero-emission by 2045 for all operations, where feasible, and by 2035 for drayage trucks.
3. 100% of off-road vehicles and equipment be zero-emission by 2035, where feasible.

The executive order directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and propose:

• Passenger vehicle and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new ZEVs sold in California towards the target of 100% of in-state sales by 2035.
• Medium-and heavy-duty vehicle regulations requiring increasing volumes of new zero-emission trucks and buses sold and operated in the state towards the target of 100% of the fleet transitioning to zero-emission vehicles by 2045, where feasible, and for all drayage trucks to be zero-emission by 2035.
• Strategies, in coordination with other state agencies, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local air districts, to achieve 100% zero-emission from off-road vehicles and equipment operations in California by 2035.

To ensure needed infrastructure to support zero-emission vehicles, the order requires state agencies, in partnership with the private sector, to accelerate deployment of affordable fueling and charging options. It also requires support of new and used zero-emission vehicle markets to provide broad accessibility to zero-emission vehicles for all Californians.

The order does not explicitly mention the state’s electricity system. California experienced rolling blackouts on several occasions this summer, suggesting that the state’s electrical grid does not have much spare capacity. It can be expected that major upgrades to the California electricity distribution and generation system would be required to support the levels of electric vehicle adoption envisioned by the executive order.

Source: California governor