In thirteen years, no new gas powered cars will be sold in the state of California.

“This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change,” said Gavin Newsom, governor of California. 

As issued by the California Resources Board in August, California is mandating all new cars be electric powered.

The plan was issued to help decrease the effects of climate change in the United States. All cars that are sold by 2035 have to be greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide free. Henry Lee, the director of the Environment and Natural Resources program at Harvard Kennedy school, said, “The ultimate goal is to decarbonize the transportation sector.” The mandate is an attempt to stop air pollution and climate change by using all electric vehicles. 

When California regulators approved this mandate on August 25, they believed that 12 other states would follow. Along with that, on August 26, the state of Washington approved that they would announce similar rules. 

Lee stated, “An electric powered car performs better than a gasoline powered car, so it’s not hard to sell.” One of the complaints with charging electric vehicles is there is a 10 to 15 minute wait to get at least 200 miles. Although people are worried about electricity running out, if 60 percent of cars in a neighborhood charge at the same time, there is a chance that the transformers will not be able to handle it.  

The main issue with electric cars is creating new transmission capacities. Almost two thirds of the United States is in use of solar capacity. The other 99 percent are in use of wind capacity. Therefore there is not enough room to create these transmission systems for our newer cars. In order to achieve a zero-carbon future by 2050 we need these transmission capacities to expand at least 60%.