Throughout his two terms, Governor Gavin Newsom has driven California to the top of the world in clean transportation policies that will improve air quality and fight the climate crisis. Under Newsom, California passed policies to get the state to 100% zero emission vehicle (ZEV) sales, transition large truck fleets from dirty diesel to zero emissions, and fund billions of dollars in incentives and infrastructure for clean transportation.
But California can’t take the foot off the gas (or uh, accelerator) now and neither can Newsom. As these policies change our transportation future, new hurdles arise, and we need new solutions to address them.
EVs are abundant in much of the state, but polluting, old vehicles remain in lower-income neighborhoods. They demand electricity to charge while climate-fueled disasters are jeopardizing energy reliability. And there is a snowball of retired EV batteries on the horizon without a responsible party in charge of recycling them.
Luckily, these new challenges have proven solutions and – look at that! – they were approved by the legislature and are now sitting on Newsom’s desk, awaiting his signature to become law.
Focus clean vehicle incentives on replacing the oldest, most polluting cars
UCS sponsored AB 2401 by Assemblymember Ting, which would expand the state’s Clean Cars 4 All program to help low-income and high-mileage drivers replace their older, polluting gas cars with EVs. This common-sense, data-backed bill received ZERO “no” votes from any lawmaker and is awaiting a green light from the state’s top executive.
The bill responds to research conducted by UCS and The Greenlining Institute showing that while pre-2004 vehicles account for fewer than 20% of the cars on California’s roads, they emit nearly 75% of the smog-forming nitrogen oxides emissions. These dirty vehicles are overrepresented in low-income neighborhoods and disproportionately impact the health of these already overburdened communities.
Adding insult to injury, the state has had several difficult budget cycles in recent years and is bracing for more. This has meant decreasing or cutting funding for clean vehicle incentive dollars that would normally help replace these old vehicles with cleaner alternatives.
AB 2401 would help California’s limited incentives go further and focus them on the communities that need them the most.
Use batteries for more than just driving
What if EVs weren’t just a clean transportation solution, but a clean energy solution too? UCS sponsored SB 59 – authored by Senator Skinner – to explicitly give the state the authority to require that all EVs are “bidirectional”, meaning they would have the ability to power homes, appliances, or even the grid with the power stored in their batteries.
As California rightly electrifies its homes, buildings and vehicles, the state must produce more electricity to meet this new demand. And as demand is increasing, climate-fueled extreme heat and wildfires are straining grid reliability.
By signing SB 59, Newsom could turn the clean transportation future he was instrumental in building into a clean energy reliability asset. That certainly sounds a lot better than turning to a bunch of new diesel generators for backup power, doesn’t it?
Recover minerals from old batteries
UCS has provided a science-based explanation on how EV batteries can and should be recycled, which underpins SB 615 by Senator Allen. This bill would ensure that all EV batteries are reused, repurposed or recycled by:
- explicitly making automakers responsible for their products at the end of the products’ lives,
- requiring robust reporting and tracking of EV batteries, and
- setting up a process to ensure batteries are being sent to cleaner, more efficient recyclers.
Between now and 2030, battery retirements will increase rapidly and if we do not have a strong policy in place – such as SB 615 – we could end up with batteries in landfills or being abandoned all together.
By signing SB 615, Newsom can plan ahead for the safe recycling of EV batteries so critical minerals can be recovered and reused, reducing the amount of mining necessary for fully electrifying our cars and trucks over the coming years
So, Mr. Governor, would you like to borrow a pen?
It’s been a great year for California policy: we are providing sensible, science-backed solutions to move us from a dirty, extractive economy to a clean, sustainable one. All that needs to happen now is for Newsom to continue his climate leadership.