California Regulators Set to Ban New Gasoline Car Sales by 2035
California air regulators vote on a groundbreaking rule to phase out new gasoline car sales by 2035, starting with a 35% zero-emission quota for 2026 models. The mandate faces little industry pushback as major automakers already pivot to electric vehicles.
California air regulators vote on a groundbreaking measure to ban the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035. The California Air Resources Board sets the mandate with 99.9% confidence in its passage, making it one of the first such bans worldwide and a monumental shift for the massive US car market.
The new rules establish strict interim quotas for zero-emission vehicles, requiring 35% of new 2026 models to be zero-emission. These targets steadily increase to 51% in 2028, 68% in 2030, and 100% in 2035, though the rules allow 20% of these sales to be plug-in hybrids and do not restrict used gasoline vehicles.
Automakers show surprisingly little pushback against the transition, as companies like Ford and GM already embrace global shifts toward electric vehicles. Officials now watch closely to see if other blue states, particularly in the Northeast and Pacific Northwest, follow California's lead in adopting these strict emission standards.