New California Law Speeds Transition to Electric Vehicles

Rebates for Low- and Middle-Income Buyers Will Bring One Million EVs

Environment California

SACRAMENTO – As world leaders prepare to gather in New York for the UN Climate Summit, California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. upped the stakes today in his state’s drive for a clean economy, putting his signature on a new initiative that will put clean cars within reach for hundreds of thousands of buyers and one million electric vehicles on the state’s roads in ten years.

The Charge Ahead California Initiative (SB 1275) was authored by Senate President pro Tem-elect Kevin de León and sponsored by the Coalition for Clean Air, Communities for a Better Environment, Environment California, The Greenlining Institute and Natural Resources Defense Council.

“I’m excited that California is charging ahead with plans to have 1 million zero-emission vehicles on our roads by 2023. Leading the way in the fight against climate change requires making electric vehicles affordable for all drivers, not just the wealthy,” Senator De Leon said.

Statements from the Charge Ahead California steering committee groups follow:

Environment California:

“California is putting the pedal to the metal, and accelerating the transition to clean, electric vehicles. By putting the first million electric vehicles on our roads, California will create a tipping point for clean vehicle sales, lead the country towards a clean vehicle revolution, and continue its position at the forefront of innovative global warming solutions.” – Michelle Kinman, Clean Energy Advocate

Communities for a Better Environment:

“Californians, especially those living in environmental justice communities, will benefit from reduced air pollution and gaining greater access to clean vehicles and green jobs. With a stroke of his pen, Governor Brown has accelerated California’s drive toward a cleaner and fairer future.” – Bahram Fazeli, Policy Director

Natural Resources Defense Council:

“It’s a great day for anyone who breathes air or buys gas in California because the Charge Ahead Initiative will help accelerate the use of electric cars, trucks, and buses that run on a cleaner fuel that is the cost equivalent of $1 per gallon gas.” – Max Baumhefner, Attorney, Clean Vehicles and Fuels

Coalition for Clean Air:

“The enactment of SB 1275 and SB 1204 means that California will be putting money paid by oil companies and other big polluters to work developing and deploying advanced clean trucks and buses in addition to cars that run on clean alternatives to petroleum. The result will be healthier air for the millions of Californians living near polluted freeways and roads.” – Bill Magavern, Policy Director

The Greenlining Institute:

“Thanks to Gov. Brown’s signature, electric cars and car-sharing opportunities are about to become affordable to working families. It will also boost public transportation and car-sharing programs for clean vehicles, helping Californians at all income levels and moving us toward a clean-energy future.” – Vien Truong, Environmental Equity Director

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    “Charge Ahead California” Set to Usher in Clean Vehicle Revolution

The Charge Ahead California Initiative (SB 1275), authored by incoming Senate President pro Tem-elect Kevin de Leόn and signed by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. on September 21, 2014, will transform the state in meaningful ways, accelerating our transition toward a clean economy.

SB 1275 will put 1 million electric vehicles on the road—about ten times the current number—in 10 years and makes it easier for people of all incomes and ethnicities to participate in California’s electric future. The law ensures that the Californians who are most impacted by air pollution benefit from the clean vehicle revolution as consumers, and in the forms of better air quality and health.

Large majorities in both houses, and more than 50 influential California organizations and businesses, supported the law.  

Why does California need Charge Ahead? 

• Cars, buses, and trucks are the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, and converting the state’s transportation sector to zero emission vehicles is critical to meeting California’s greenhouse gas and air quality goals.

• Four in ten Californians live close enough to a freeway or busy road that they are at increased risk of asthma and other health hazards. Exhaust from millions of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles pollutes our air and costs California billions in avoidable health costs.

• California already accounts for one-third of the country’s electric vehicle sales. Accelerating the deployment of zero-emission vehicles is critical to achieving California’s emissions reduction targets and healthy air standards.

• Using electricity as a transportation fuel can help keep money in the state, stimulating the economy, promoting local job growth, and insulating family budgets from gas price spikes, which hit people of color and low-income households especially hard.

These built-in benefits have led some to declare: “This California bill will make electric cars way less pretentious.”

Key provisions: 

• Extended and improved Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP). The CVRP has been instrumental in bringing plug-in cars to California. The CVRP currently provides buyers with a $2,500 rebate for zero-emission purchases, but the program has been plagued by insufficient funding. SB 1275 would help secure the funding needed to ensure California is the first state in the nation with one million electric vehicles, establish a cost-effective income cap to stretch valuable public dollars to incentivize clean car purchases that would not otherwise occur, and step down rebate levels over time as technology costs decrease.

• Increased access to clean transportation in disadvantaged communities. Establishes car-sharing programs, adds charging stations in apartment complexes, provides access to financing options that would lower combined monthly car payments and fuel costs, and offers incentives for the replacement of gas-guzzling “clunkers” with new or used electric cars or vouchers for transit and car-sharing.

The Charge Ahead California Initiative is sponsored by the Coalition for Clean Air, Communities for a Better Environment, Environment California, The Greenlining Institute, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Learn more at ChargeAhead.org.