Calif. voters favor gas-car phaseout, but all-EV goal faces tough opposition
In August, California regulators issued a mandate both dramatic and historic: Ban the sale of most new gasoline-powered cars and light trucks by 2035, in favor of electric vehicles.
So far, a majority of California voters back the move, according to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. Fiftyfive percent of registered voters favor the mandate and 39% oppose it. Support for the mandate was fairly widespread among voters of different ages, races and ethnicities. The biggest dividing line is politics, with conservative voters opposed to the mandate and liberals supporting it.
On electric vehicles more than on most issues, however, even a minority in opposition could seriously hold back the policy’s success because voters are also consumers who will be buying cars and trucks over the next decade.
The state’s plan to meet the 2035 goal: restrict the supply of new internal combustion cars while encouraging people to buy electric cars, in part through state incentives, financial and otherwise.
The poll indicates that goal could be hard to hit. Although a majority of voters support the mandate as a matter of policy, only 20% say they’re likely to go all-electric next time they shop for a new car or truck. The fact that only 20% of voters plan to buy an electric vehicle doesn’t mean the mandate is doomed, at least not in the early days. Commercial fleet sales are expected to make up a large portion of EV sales, as businesses decide that switching can save them money, with company-installed banks of chargers reducing worries about the vehicles’ range.