Achieving the 100% target by 2035 means overcoming very real hurdles, especially adequate and reliable power and charging stations.
California currently has about 80,000 stations in public places, far from the 250,000 target by 2025. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents many major automakers, warned of shortages in infrastructure, access to the materials needed to make batteries, and supply chains. The problem is one of the challenges of meeting state timelines.
The new effort comes as California moves away from gas-fired power plants and works to maintain reliable power while prioritizing solar, wind and other clean energy sources. Earlier this year, the head of California’s energy agency warned that there could be power shortages on the hottest days of summer, which occurred briefly in August 2020.
That hasn’t happened yet this year. But Democrat Newsom has pushed to keep the state’s last remaining nuclear power plants operational beyond the 2025 shutdown plan, giving the state a back-up if the grid is strained. As such you may look to diesel generators or natural gas power plants.
Adding a car charger puts more demand on the energy grid.
Ensuring access to charging stations is also key to growing electric vehicle sales. An infrastructure bill passed by Congress last year provides the state with his $5 billion to collect tolls every 50 miles he goes along interstate highways.
Meanwhile, Newsom has pledged to spend billions of dollars to boost sales of zero-emission vehicles, including adding chargers to low-income neighborhoods. The vehicle should be able to drive 150 miles on a single charge.
Mary Nichols, former chairman of the California Air Resources Board, now says even in California, long-distance driving of electric vehicles requires careful planning of where to stop and recharge. says. Funding from the state and federal governments will go a long way toward strengthening that infrastructure and making electric vehicles a more convenient option, she said.
“It’s going to be an innovative process. Vehicle sales obligations are only part of it,” she said.
Hydrogen is the fuel option under the new regulations, but fuel cell-powered vehicles account for less than 1% of vehicle sales in recent years.
Both state and federal governments are offering thousands of dollars in rebates to offset the cost of buying electric vehicles, and regulations include allowing automakers to make used electric vehicles available to people in the lower and middle income brackets. Includes incentives to do so.
Over the past 12 years, California has provided more than $1 billion in rebates on sales of 478,000 electric, plug-in or hybrid vehicles, according to the Aviation Commission.
This article includes a report from KQED’s Kevin Stark.