California will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035

A clean air regulation team in California unveiled a plan this week that would tout the sale of electric and zero-emissions vehicles while starting to phase of vehicles which rely on gasoline by 2035. The team have said this is an effort to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas pollution.

The proposal, if approved by California’s Air Resources Board, would mandate 35% of new cars sold to be powered by either batteries or hydrogen by 2026, and then step that up to 100% by 2035. The proposal also calls for zero-emissions sales to make up 68% of sales by 2030.

“It’s ambitious, it’s pioneering, it’s what we must do if we’re going to leave this planet better for future generations,” Lauren Sanchez, senior climate adviser to Newsom, said during a conference call on Wednesday.

The plan “is one of the most important efforts we have ever carried out to clean the air,” CARB Chair Liane Randolph said on Wednesday. “This regulation will essentially end vehicle emissions altogether.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement that transportation accounts for more than 50% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions and that, without this plan, California would not be able to hit its carbon-free economy by 2045.

If this plan is approved, this would be the first ban on vehicles with internal combustion engines in the United States. Gas powered vehicles would not be banned altogether and could still be sold privately.

California currently sells the most cars in the United States. As of 2021, car sales in California totalled over $136.8 billion, which makes up 11.74% of the total car sales in the United States. The top 5 regions (which are Texas, Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania) account for 40.31% of the total sales. The United States of America’s total car sales was approximately $1,165.4 billion in 2021.

Electric vehicles currently make up 15% of the market share in California, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.