New Jersey will prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 as part of an effort to improve air quality and reduce planet-warming pollutants, officials announced Tuesday.
A rule that will take effect Jan. 1 commits the state to an eventual move toward zero-emission vehicles, the state Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release.
It is one of a growing number of states to do so, including California, Vermont, New York, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts, Virginia, Rhode Island, Maryland and Connecticut, according to Coltura, a Seattle-based nonprofit advocating for an end to gasoline vehicle use.
New Jersey will start limiting the amount of new gasoline-powered cars that can be sold in the state starting in 2027, eventually reaching zero in 2035.
I’m surprised that this is something voters support. I see plenty of people who like electric cars on the internet, but I assumed that that was because the web pages I go to attract unusual people. I would have guessed that the majority of Americans wouldn’t trust new electric technology and that they would get pretty angry if they wanted a new car but they weren’t permitted to buy a gas-powered one.
Is this an issue of environmentalists being a vocal minority while most voters simply don’t care what politicians promise to do twelve years from now?
You would be correct with your guess. People, as a whole, do not like bans.
The way to win people over is to make EVs the better product. Cars didn’t beat out the horse and buggy because cars were mandated, they won because they were a better product. You can still drive a horse and buggy on the streets today, just ask the people in Pennsylvania, USA.
I’m extra shocked to see this in NJ; it is one of only two states where you are not allowed to pump your own gas. Efforts to change pump laws have been massively unfavorable because, among other things, they create jobs.
There’s a lot of disinformation on EV’s. I drove an ICE until 2018 when I felt EV technology, longevity, and charging infrastructure was ready, I got a model 3. This was still on the early adoption side and my circle of people expected the car to self combust. Even to this day people I am still educating people in my circle. You’d think 4 years of driving and 50k miles might change opinions, but I still get asked how much does the battery cost to replace. Which is the equivalent of an engine seizing in an ICE. It’s not going to happen except in rare instances. Realistically the battery will last the life of the car for me. Maybe it will finally click for people when I’ve been driving it for 10, 15 years. I think for others gas prices will need to squeeze their wallet before reality sets in. I support this bill, even if its grasping at straws, it’s a step in the right direction. But a lot of consumer education needs to happen between now and then.
TLDR: The majority of Americans are still skeptical about EV reliability and believe they cost more than equivalent hybrids, etc
Well, if you notice, it’s only blue states that support it. Red states like their gas guzzlers, but they’ll be forced to follow suit eventually.
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It’s political posturing. It’s so far in the future that those who made the law will have gotten all their political capital out of it and moved in to something else by the time the hens come home to roost. Same deal with California as they’ve passed the same kind of law.
I can also see a future for states that will continue to sell them and provide out of state licensing and registration.
Electric cars will be well and truly dominant by 2035, and likely well before then. Why would people want to buy crappy outdated tech by that point?
It would be like buying a horse and cart after cars have taken over during the 20th century.
The same goes for gas stoves and the like. They are trash compared to induction cooktops, and people will come to understand that once they use it.
I’ve used an induction cooktop, it had the most ridiculous user interface imaginable, using capacitive buttons on the cooktop. Gas is much more intuitive to use.
That’s not inherent to the technology, just a particular implementation.
Most of the people who vehemently hate vehicle progress will be dead in 1-2 decades or at least will have lost their license to age or dui