California bans the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035

California, the country’s most populous state and the center of U.S. car culture, is banning the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035, marking a historic step in the state’s battle against climate change.

The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board on Thursday, will force automakers to speed up production of cleaner vehicles beginning in 2026 until sales of only zero-emission cars, pickup trucks and SUVs are allowed in the state.

The unanimous vote comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom set a target in 2020 to accelerate the shift away from internal combustion engines. The transportation sector represents the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, which has suffered from record-breaking wildfires, droughts and air pollution made worse by climate change.

The decision will have sweeping impacts beyond California and will pave the way for other states to adopt the requirement. At least 15 states, including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, have adopted California’s vehicle standards on previous clean-car rules.

Liane Randolph, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, said the rule is one of the state’s most important efforts yet to clean the air and will lead to a 50% reduction in pollution from cars and light trucks by 2040.

The policy will not ban people from continuing to drive gas cars or from buying and selling them on the used market after 2035.

But the rule does phase out such vehicles over time, requiring 35% of total new vehicle sales to be powered by batteries or hydrogen by 2026 and 68% by 2030. More than 16% of new cars sold in California in 2022 were zero-emissions vehicles, the state said, up from 12.41% in 2021 and 7.78% in 2020.

“California is once-again leading the way by establishing commonsense standards that will transition to sales of all zero-polluting cars and light-duty trucks in the state,” said Kathy Harris, clean vehicles advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

California, home to congested freeways and smog-filled skies over cities like Los Angeles, has considerable authority over the country’s auto industry.

A federal waiver under the Clean Air Act allows the state to adopt stronger fuel economy standards than those of the federal government and has set the precedent for the rest of the country on how to curb vehicle emissions. 

California’s ability to control vehicle emissions has spurred some innovative strategies, like catalytic converters that convert toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas into less-toxic pollutants, as well as “check engine” lights. The state established the first tailpipe emissions standards in the country in 1966.

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