Full Title: Driving Equity: Policy Solutions to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption in Lower-Income Communities
Author(s): Ethan N. Elkind, Ted Lamm, Katie Segal, and Gil Damon
Publisher(s): Berkley Law Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment
Publication Date: May 15, 2022
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Under Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order N-79-20, California has adopted a statewide goal of ending the sale of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2035, in favor of zero-emission vehicles like electric vehicles. But even as battery costs fall and analysts predict long-term price parity with internal combustion engine vehicles, too many electric vehicles remain unaffordable for lower-income Californians to purchase. Furthermore, charging can be inaccessible for some of these residents, undermining the prospects for success.
Without a rapid and ambitious transition to zero-emission vehicles, California will struggle to achieve its broader climate goals. Transportation represents half of California’s statewide greenhouse gas emissions when accounting for oil and gas production; the state will not be able to reduce emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and achieve statewide carbon neutrality by 2045 without this vehicle transition.