More states are focusing on sales of electric vehicles — with eight states detailing plans to push the sale of 3.3 million electric vehicles by 2025.
The plan calls for a combination of regulatory action and consumer incentives.
Here is how each of the states are working to advance the sale of “zero emission vehicles” — basically the goal is for 15% of new-car sales to be zero-emission vehicles within a decade.
The states are:
- California
- Connecticut
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- New York
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
The plan is currently not too specific when it comes to state details, but the goal looks to connect them all with similar incentives (via the LA Times)
… the state governments plan to make zero-emission cars account for 25% of state fleet purchases.
They also pledged to continue rebates for consumers, such as California’s $2,500 incentive to purchase an electric or fuel cell vehicle. But they want to make the rebates instant at the time of purchase. The current system requires the buyer to put up the money and then file paperwork with a state agency to claim the incentive.
Officials plan to make other incentives standard across all eight states in the agreement, such as permits that allow solo drivers to use the vehicles in carpool lanes. The states also will lobby the federal government to maintain its $7,500 income tax credit for the purchase of a zero-emission vehicle.
Electric car sales are so far not truly meeting expectations from years prior — with many pointing to a 1% market reach as more likely. (These vehicles include electricity-only cars and hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles, and plug-in hybrids).
Plug-in hybrid sales, such as GM’s Volt, and battery-only cars, like Nissan’s Leaf, are up 26% this year, according to HybridCars.com’s Dashboard.
But currently, zero-emission sales in states are a drop in the bucket compared to the number of cars sold annually in the U.S. That’s not stopping the states from the push, however.
Tesla (TSLA) is the exception when it comes to electric car success — and early critics of the plan say California could be the one state that manages to reach its goal.
“Today, we’re putting a foot on the pedal to get more clean cars on the road,” said California Gov. Jerry Brown. “This is real action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
