By Erin Sanchez
The State of California has set forth ambitious carbon neutrality goals to combat climate change. The goal of carbon neutrality by 2045 was codified in September 2022 by AB 1279. Reducing the reliance on fossil fuels in the transportation sector is a major aspect of reaching these goals. To help support California’s statewide carbon neutrality goal, Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-79-20 which set the following targets for zero emission vehicles and equipment:
100% of new passenger cars and trucks will be zero emissions by 2035
100% of medium and heavy-duty vehicles will be zero emission by 2035
100% of off-road vehicles and equipment will be zero emission by 2035
In addition, the state set a target of 250,000 EV charging stations by 2025. These goals compliment the recent federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides consumers a $4,000 rebate for used EVs and a $7,500 credit for new EVs. Additional information on IRA EV incentives can be found in A/G’s previous post: The Inflation Reduction Act poses a new way to think about the EV Tax Credit
While California’s goals represent the loftiest carbon reduction goals in the country, the progress made toward these goals thus far is encouraging. California is the #1 EV market in the country, with over 1.39 EVs sold in California by the end of 2022. This represents approximately 19% of the market share of passenger vehicles. Approximately 87,700 public and shared private EV chargers have been installed across the state, which is about 32% of the targeted stations.
It is clear there is a long way to go to achieve statewide goals and help California transition to a greener environment and economy. To aid this transition, the development community can play a role in expanding the network of EV chargers, but it does not need to take on this challenge alone. The state has allocated $8.9 Billion to accelerate the transition to zero-emissions vehicles. Many of these funds are available through Incentive programs such as the Clean Transportation Program, California EV Infrastructure Project, and Communities in Charge. Additional incentives and rebates are offered by utilities throughout the state, including Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). More details on these incentive programs and requirements can be found here: https://business.ca.gov/industries/zero-emission-vehicles/zev-funding-resources/