US California to ban new gas cars by 2035

David3

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California will ban the sale of new gasoline (petrol) powered cars by the year 2035: California to stop sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035 . Owning a gasoline car, or selling used gasoline cars, will still be permitted.

I applaud this - it will force car companies to make electric cars more affordable. However, I expect that the car companies will sue California.
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This will likely send people out of the state to buy their new gas cars, which they’ll just bring back to California to drive.
 
This will likely send people out of the state to buy their new gas cars, which they’ll just bring back to California to drive.
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They wouldn't be able to legally register those new gas vehicles in California.
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I think it's a great idea if they can pull it off.

The UK already plans to do the same as well as some other European countries. U.K. Moves to End Sales of All Non-Electric Cars by 2035
Some smaller European countries have already set even more aggressive targets, with Norway banning conventional cars in 2025 and Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands aiming for 2030. Oh, and Scotland—determined as ever to be slightly ahead of the rest of the U.K.—wants to ban conventional car sales in 2032.

GM has already announced they plan to move to making only electric cars.

Volvo no longer makes gas only cars.
All Volvo models launched from 2018 and beyond, for example, will use either hybrid, plug-in or pure battery-electric drivetrains.
 
This will likely send people out of the state to buy their new gas cars, which they’ll just bring back to California to drive.

maybe for a little bit. Back when California cars were more expensive because they met higher emissions standards, very few people went to another state to get their cars. and now most manufacturers don't even make 2 versions - just one - the one that can be sold in California.
this is one of the best things about having such a big state. California legislation can drive the nation in a direction.

2035 is such a soft target, too. So many car manufacturers have all-electric models already. and more are on the way. In ten years it might be "stupid" to buy a gas-powered car.

The Tesla Y is under 50K, the new VW is supposed to be under 40. The mini cooper is under 30. and now in response, Tesla is promising an electric car for $25K in just a few more years.
 
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GM put out the EV1 in the 1990s due to California threatening to enact a similar law where only cars with very low emissions could be sold.

General Motors worked with a pro-Hydrogen car California politician to kill the law and took back all of the EV1s ( leased, not sold ) and destroyed them.

The documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car?" documented all of this and eventually embarrassed the CEO of GM to have the Chevy Volt created.

Sadly, the Chevy Volt is really just a different kind of hybrid.
 
Like many people, I was amazed with the improvement in air quality that happened in March with the strict lockdowns.

Some cities have floated the idea of banning cars within city limits. Places like NYC, LA, would have people park outside of the city and use public transportation to do their business.

I don't know how practical or cost effective that would be especially versus promoting zero emission vehicales.

I still have those impressive pictures of smog free LA from the lockdown in my mind.
 
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GM put out the EV1 in the 1990s due to California threatening to enact a similar law where only cars with very low emissions could be sold.

General Motors worked with a pro-Hydrogen car California politician to kill the law and took back all of the EV1s ( leased, not sold ) and destroyed them.

The documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car?" documented all of this and eventually embarrassed the CEO of GM to have the Chevy Volt created.

Sadly, the Chevy Volt is really just a different kind of hybrid.

Who killed the electric car is a pretty good documentary but there is even more to it than they showed in the doc.

I think GM is more than just "embarrassed". I think they know they missed the boat there.
The Chevy Volt is a plug-in hybrid. The Chevy Bolt is an all-electric subcompact.
The EV 1 was discontinued in '99. The Volt didn't show up till ten years later. And then it was just another hybrid in a crowded field. With the EV 1, GM had a chance to be first and unique.
 
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GM put out the EV1 in the 1990s due to California threatening to enact a similar law where only cars with very low emissions could be sold.

General Motors worked with a pro-Hydrogen car California politician to kill the law and took back all of the EV1s ( leased, not sold ) and destroyed them.

The documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car?" documented all of this and eventually embarrassed the CEO of GM to have the Chevy Volt created.

Sadly, the Chevy Volt is really just a different kind of hybrid.
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The Chevy Volt has already been discontinued. Chevy nows sells the Bolt - a fully electric (only) car. General Motors is also coming out with the fully-electric Hummer.

Due to China's electric vehicle mandates, General Motors now sells an electric car in China. It's currently the best-selling EV in China: GM venture's mini car becomes China's most sold EV, surpassing Tesla's Model 3
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The Chevy Volt has already been discontinued. Chevy nows sells the Bolt - a fully electric (only) car. General Motors is also coming out with the fully-electric Hummer.

Due to China's electric vehicle mandates, General Motors now sells an electric car in China. It's currently the best-selling EV in China: GM venture's mini car becomes China's most sold EV, surpassing Tesla's Model 3
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I think the Volt has a wierd story. Although sales had started to decline when it was discontinued it was still a good car. I think Chevy made a mistake when they discontinued making sedans to concentrate on trucks and SUVs. But maybe the future is not hybrids but all electrics.
 
I think the Volt has a wierd story. Although sales had started to decline when it was discontinued it was still a good car. I think Chevy made a mistake when they discontinued making sedans to concentrate on trucks and SUVs. But maybe the future is not hybrids but all electrics.
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Sedans just aren't that popular in the United States anymore - people want "crossover" mini SUVs: U.S. car market: by vehicle type | Statista .
 
I think the Volt has a wierd story. Although sales had started to decline when it was discontinued it was still a good car. I think Chevy made a mistake when they discontinued making sedans to concentrate on trucks and SUVs. But maybe the future is not hybrids but all electrics.
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The Volt was a great car.

Plug-in hybrids save so much gas. My wife and I own a Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, and we only burn 1 gallon of petrol every 300 miles or so. The rest of the "fuel" comes from the electrical plug.

Plug-in hybrids are pretty affordable - the Prius Prime is about $28,000 before federal, state, and utility incentives.
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:( electric cars are the wrong path. There isn't enough lithium nor other requisite metals to make enough batteries to replace the needed number of vehicles. On top of that, those metals are horrible for the environment, both during extraction and disposal. We really need to go to hydrogen storage with hydrogen combustion. Iron, carbon, aluminum, all abundant and completely recyclable. Plus some biodegradable plant plastics for seals and what not. With those you can make everything from the power plant of a car to the very electrodes (carbon) used to electrolysis the water. Just power the hydrogen production and storage with solar, wind, other renewables... No nasty batteries needed. And no need to cross your fingers on John B Goodenough's newest battery tech.
 
:( electric cars are the wrong path. There isn't enough lithium nor other requisite metals to make enough batteries to replace the needed number of vehicles. On top of that, those metals are horrible for the environment, both during extraction and disposal. We really need to go to hydrogen storage with hydrogen combustion. Iron, carbon, aluminum, all abundant and completely recyclable. Plus some biodegradable plant plastics for seals and what not. With those you can make everything from the power plant of a car to the very electrodes (carbon) used to electrolysis the water. Just power the hydrogen production and storage with solar, wind, other renewables... No nasty batteries needed. And no need to cross your fingers on John B Goodenough's newest battery tech.


The world has enough lithium to build over 3 billion Tesla Model 3 type cars:

Tesla's batteries contain about 0.0714 kg of lithium per kWh of capacity: What is the content of pure lithium (e.g. kg/kWh) in Li-ion...

The Tesla Model 3 Standard Range + car has a battery capacity of 54 kWh: Tesla Model 3 - Wikipedia

This works out to 3.9 kg of lithium per Tesla Model 3 SR+ car.

The world has about 15 million metric tons (15 billion kg) of lithium: Lithium reserves worldwide top countries 2019 | Statista. This enough lithium to make (1 car / 3.9 kg)(15 billion kg) = 3.8 billion cars.

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15 years is a long time. The people saying that electric cars are not going to win are like people in 2006 who still thought Nokia phones were better because a multi day battery lifetime was so important, and the iphone that was coming up was obviously going to be an expensive niche product for tech nerds.

By 2035, and perhaps even way earlier, it is extremely likely that electric cars will be much better than current conventional gas cars in almost every way. Not many people will even want to buy a gas car in 2035, except for second hand. At that point, electric cars will be far cheaper with almost no downsides.

What most people don't even realize is that electric cars are already on a par with conventional cars, even if you don't care about the environment...as you long as you can charge from home and have at least some charging network in your country.

2035 is also not a policy consistent with getting under 2C of heating, it is more like a 2.5C or 3C policy when you look at the math on carbon budgets combined with expected population increase and economic growth, and consider that cars sold by 2034 will still be being driven around in 2050.

That being said, it depends. If California manages it so that new petrol cars are down 50% by 2025 and 75% by 2030 and then 100% by 2035 that would be a 2C policy.
 
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