New York State has jumped more squarely onto the zero-emissions bandwagon by announcing it will follow California’s lead in banning sales of gasoline-powered cars.
Meeting the 2035 target will be staggered, with a requirement for 35 percent of new cars, pickups, and SUVs having to be zero-emission by 2026 and 60 percent by 2030, Hochul said.
“New York is a national climate leader and an economic powerhouse, and we’re using our strength to help spur innovation and implementation of zero-emission vehicles on a grand scale,” Hochul said.
While the plan outlined by Hochul mostly follows California’s zero-emissions scheme, New York’s extends to public transportation, including school buses.
All new school buses in New York will be required to be zero-emission by 2027, and the entire fleet must meet the stringent standards by 2035.
In her announcement, Hochul also said New York would be rolling out a range of financial incentives to encourage residents to buy electric vehicles, along with investments in related infrastructure, including fast-charging stations.
“We had to wait for California to take a step because there’s some federal requirement that California had to go first … But once they made that decision, we were able to step up immediately and say ‘now there’s nothing holding us back,’” Hochul said.
‘Self-Defeating’
After California rolled out its gasoline-powered car ban, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took aim at the scheme, arguing that it’s marred by “hypocrisy” and “silliness.”Rubio told reporters at a press conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 16, that due to continued reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity to charge electric vehicles (EVs), California’s scheme is “self-defeating.”
“If they’re going to go to all battery-powered cars, then I guess they’re going to be charging their cars with coal and natural gas, because that’s how you produce electricity because they don’t like nuclear plants,” Rubio said.
“And I don’t think you can generate enough power for a state like California based on solar and wind. So, in the end, it’s self-defeating,” the Republican senator continued.
Rubio added he believes electric vehicle technology will continue to advance and the day will come when there’ll be more of them on American roads. But market mechanisms—not government dictates—should be the driving force behind widespread electric vehicle adoption, he said.
Other critics of California’s aggressive zero-emission-vehicle sales standards have warned that a lack of key electric vehicle infrastructure makes adoption California’s new rules “extremely challenging.”
“Whether or not these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly linked to external factors like inflation, charging and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labor, critical mineral availability and pricing, and the ongoing semiconductor shortage,” John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said in a statement.
He added that he and the organization he leads fully backs the aim to get more electric vehicles on the road, but there are policy issues that need to be addressed before that can succeed.
“The questions policymakers should be asking: Are critical mineral and battery supply chains in place? Will the critical mineral mining and processing happen in the United States? Can customers afford the vehicles? Do all communities have the same access to level 2 home charging as single-family homeowners?” Bozzella said.
“Resolving these questions will determine the ultimate success of the California regulations and the EV transformation.”
