Petrol car sale ends 2035, California board rules

All petrol vehicles will not be sold in the state of California by 2035, United States. This is now official as the California Air Resources Board voted on Thursday to approve the new rules.

California Governor Gavin Newsom first announced the plan to phase out vehicles that run only on petrol by 2035 in September 2020.

California follows the European Union in phasing out combustion engine cars to reduce carbon emissions linked to climate change, Reuters reports.

The EU plans to enforce a 100 percent reduction in passenger-car CO2 emissions by 2035, a regulation will have the effect of outlawing sales of new cars with internal-combustion engines in the bloc after that date.

California has moved faster than the federal government and other US states in setting strict standards for vehicle emissions. More than a dozen other states have adopted California’s earlier zero-emission requirements.

“This is a historic moment for California, for our partner states and for the world as we set forth a path toward a zero emission future,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph.

California officials said the rules by 2037 would cut by 25 per cent smog-causing pollution from light-duty vehicles.

The rules mandate that 35 per cent of the new cars sold be plug-in hybrid electric, battery-electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell by 2026. That proportion will rise to 68 per cent by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035.

By 2030, there will be 2.9 million fewer new petrol-powered vehicles sold, widening to 9.5 million fewer conventional vehicles by 2035, CARB said.

Steve Douglas, a vice president at the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade association representing General Motors, Volkswagen, Toyota and other automakers, said on Thursday the CARB rules “are the most sweeping and transformative regulations in the history of the automobile.”

 

The group said the regulations would be “extremely challenging even in California and particularly in the early years.”

California is ahead of federal vehicle emissions rules, which currently extend only to 2026 and do not set yearly requirements for zero-emission models.

CARB’s new regulation would allow automakers to sell up to 20 percent PHEVs by 2035. That may boost Toyota, which is investing heavily in plug-ins, and which agreed earlier this week to recognize California’s authority to set vehicle rules.

Tesla, which produces only electric vehicles, has called for a faster route to all-electric sales.

It said in a July 26 filing to CARB that the board should require 100 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2030 and increase the stringency of the standard by “reducing the use of polluting PHEVs in annual compliance.” It also sought changes on battery and charging cord requirements.

Tesla Senior Counsel Joseph Mendelson said on Thursday the CARB proposal “is both achievable and paves the way for California to lead in electrifying the light duty sector.”

But the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers trade association on Thursday urged President Joe Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency to “reject California’s request for a Clean Air Act waiver to proceed with this unlawful ban.”