A lawmaker in California has proposed banning the sale of new cars powered by internal combustion engines by 2040.
Assemblyman Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, plans to introduce the bill when the legislature resumes in January, in an ambitious gambit to reduce emissions in the state.
France and the UK have already set 2040 as the target date for eliminating new gasoline cars, and India is ambitiously planning to phase them out by 2030.
Assemblyman Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco, plans to introduce the bill when the legislature resumes in January, in an ambitious gambit to reduce emissions in the state
‘The market is moving this way. The entire world is moving this way,’ Ting told the Sacramento Bee, which first reported his plans.
‘California is used to being first. But we’re trying to catch up to this,’ Ting said.
The details of Ting’s proposal were not immediately clear, including how drivers would afford more costly electric vehicles.
However the lawmakers is said to be working on legislation that would overhaul California’s electric car rebate program by making more money available for rebates.
The state already offers up to $7,000 in electric vehicle rebates for eligible zero-emissions vehicles.
Electric vehicle sales accounted for 5 percent of all new car sales in California for the first six months of the year
Around 300,000 zero-emission vehicles have been sold in California thus far.
Electric vehicle sales accounted for just under 5 percent of all new car sales in the state in the first half of the year.
The expanded availability of electric charging stations would also need to be addressed, but Ting felt confident that his proposal would be feasible.
‘At some point you need to set a goal and put a line in the sand,’ Ting said.
‘If you had told me five years ago that we might have autonomous vehicles on the road soon, I would have laughed,’ he said.
‘The technology is moving so quickly, I don’t know if by 2040 we’ll be owning our own cars.’