On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board moved to require all new vehicles in the state to run on electricity by the year 2035.
Citizens of California are allowed to continue driving and buying gas-powered vehicles after 2035, but no new models will be sold in the state thereafter.
According to FOX News, the decision comes two years after the state’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, first directed regulators to consider the policy. If the plan is successfully executed, California would cut emissions from vehicles in half by the year 2040.
Last year, Elon Musk, the CEO of electric carmaker Tesla, said that electricity production needs to double to transition to electric vehicles. However, as noted by The Observer, the cost to create an infrastructure to power all electric vehicles in the country would cost between $135 billion to $358 billion.
Additionally, current electric vehicles depend on lithium for their batteries, which store and use energy produced elsewhere. According to Statista, most lithium is produced overseas, in countries like Australia, Chile and China, with batteries primarily manufactured in China.
This story closely mirrors one we reported on a few days ago.
On Tuesday, we reported that an Australian financial institution, “Bank Australia” will stop funding fossil fuel-fueled car loans in 2025.
In an announcement earlier this year, the bank committed to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2035 – a commitment no other Australian bank has made. During the National Electric Vehicle Summit in Canberra, the government announced the decision, noting that passenger vehicles contribute 43 per cent to Australia’s overall emissions from transportation.
Bank Australia is aware of the need to support people not yet able to afford electric vehicles while the market grows, so it will continue to offer loans for second-hand fossil-fuel vehicles “until there is a viable and thriving market for electric vehicles.”
