Washington state to ban sales of new gas cars by 2035, following California

theguardian.com:

Washington state will follow California and prohibit the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, Jay Inslee, the state governor, said.

California regulators on Thursday moved forward with a landmark plan to phase out the sale of gas cars over the next 13 years in the US’s largest auto market.

The new policy requires 100% of new sales of passenger cars, trucks and SUVs in the state to be powered by electricity or hydrogen by 2035, with one-fifth allowed to be plug-in hybrids.

The specific regulations for Washington state are yet to be created and the public will have the chance to weigh in, the Seattle Times reported.

Transportation-related emissions account for more than 40% of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington.

In 2020, lawmakers in the state passed a law directing the department of ecology to adopt California’s emissions standards. This year, they set a goal of phasing out sales of new internal combustion-powered cars by 2030.

A state council, set up by Inslee to plan for the future of electric vehicles, held its first meeting in July. Members discussed building a network of fast-charging stations on state highways, said Anna Lising, senior climate adviser to Inslee. The effort will be helped by $71m from the federal government.

The state legislature also has budgeted $69m to set up “community charging” stations for people who don’t live in single-family homes.

Lising said she expected the new regulations to incentivize manufacturers to make more and cheaper electric vehicles.

Nearly 20% of new vehicle registrations in Washington in July were either electric or hybrid, according to data from the state’s department of licensing. In total, 104,000 electric vehicles – either fully battery electric or a plug-in hybrid