In 2021, Reuters reported that 12 governors wrote to President Biden asking him to “stop selling new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.” These states are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington. Four of those states, besides Maine, Vermont and Virginia, have enacted their own legislation to go that route. New Jersey is the fifth state in the 2021 cohort and could be next. Governor Phil Murphy issued three executive orders, one of which adopted California’s Advanced Clean Car II (ACCII) mandate, which means selling 100 percent zero-emission vehicles and light trucks starting in 2035.
The rules on vehicles come with additional decrees for national and other energy applications. Governor wants 100% of state energy to come from clean sources by 2035, wants 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial properties to have zero-carbon HVAC systems installed by then, and wants 10% of low- and moderate-income properties to be electrified by 2018 by 2030 The Sierra Club of New Jersey said the 12-year timeline for the previous two ordinances was 15 years shorter than the state’s previous zero-carbon timeline.
New Jersey has a lot of regulation and refinement on its way to its goal. Currently, the basic ACCII rules do not outline the range and performance requirements electric vehicles must offer customers in 2035. go” is an open-ended, “new pure electric vehicle with a cruising range typically above 200 miles, which will meet most people’s daily driving needs. If you need to go further, public DC fast chargers are available throughout California and the United States. ”
However, when Oregon adopted the rules, it included details that pure electric vehicles would need at least 150 miles of practical range on a single charge, fast-charging capability, come standard with charging cables that were at least 20 feet long to handle Tier 2 rates, and Need to meet “Minimum Warranty and Durability Requirements”. The primary battery warranty mandated by the state of Oregon is in line with many that have been advertised, such as 8 years of coverage, or 100,000 miles, with 80% capacity remaining at the end of that time. Plug-in hybrids need to have an EPA-rated all-electric range of at least 50 miles, as well as “an extended warranty on emissions-related components for 15 years or 150,000 miles, and include similar charging capabilities, inlets, and charging wires as ZEVs.” Manufacturers must provide repair information and all necessary maintenance tools to non-dealer shops. The cherry on top of the cake is taking care of affordability for all incomes, noting that dealerships offering low-income assistance programs must acquire a supply of used EVs, and it provides incentives for manufacturers to help community car-sharing programs acquire EVs.
We suspect that New Jersey will make a similar clarification as the deadline approaches, provided the state follows through. Some of the new measures include “a $70 million allocation to reduce the upfront cost of consumer adoption of medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles,” possibly in the form of state incentives.