Vermont Kills EV Mandate; The Federal Government Just Killed California's EV Mandate

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Another state discovers California-style mandates are not workable given the current technologies and infrastructure.

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In the summer of 2024, I reported that the state of Connecticut opted to forgo adopting California-style electric vehicle (EV) mandates. 

Additionally, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin put the brakes on his state’s EV mandate at the end of the year.

Just last month, Maryland’s governor delayed its sad attempt to be East Coast California via a similar mandate.

Now Vermont Governor Phil Scott issued an executive order halting the enforcement of the state’s electric vehicle (EV) sales mandate, which had required that 35% of all vehicles delivered to Vermont dealerships be zero-emission starting with the 2026 model year.

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This pause affects passenger cars and medium-to-heavy-duty trucks and continues the trend of progressive states following California into a progressive blackhole of senseless energy policies.

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Vermont is one of 11 states including New York, Maryland and Massachusetts that have adopted California’s zero-emission vehicle rules, which seek to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035.

California’s rules require 35% of light-duty vehicles in the 2026 model year to be zero-emission models.

Scott cited warnings from automakers that they could limit supply of gas-powered vehicles to dealers in the state because of the EV rules.

“It’s clear we don’t have anywhere near enough charging infrastructure and insufficient technological advances in heavy-duty vehicles to meet current goals,” said Scott.

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Democrat technically illiterate woke folks, who used their ill-gotten veto-proof majority to do lots of useless energy mischief, finally meet Republican realists, who were elected to undo all their autopen-approved crap.

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Reality wins big time, as it should.
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More states will follow, as otherwise no Democrat politician will get re-elected in 2026, and beyond
The wake up of the woke is finally happening, as it should.. 

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Vermont has one of the more favorable EV charging networks in the country, with a +1.3 ratio of charger-to-electric-vehicle, which is a meaningless statistic, because the EVs travel all over in and out of state.

That means, if the mandate cannot work in Vermont, it won’t be working anywhere…and that includes California.

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Local automobile dealers, who have to address the realities of customer preferences, are delighted with this news.

Vermont’s auto dealers welcomed news of the executive order.

The California rule doesn’t obligate local dealers to sell a certain percentage of electric vehicles, rather it requires car and truck manufacturers, starting in model year 2026, to ensure 35% of vehicles shipped to those dealers be zero emissions.

Matt Cota, with the Vermont Vehicle and Automotive Distributors Association, said that demand for those EVs does not exist in Vermont (about 14% of new cars registered in Vermont last year were zero emission).

Cota said manufacturers would likely comply with the mandate by sending fewer total vehicles to Vermont dealers.

He said dealers in New Hampshire, which has not adopted the California rule, will be well-positioned to satisfy demand for gas-powered vehicles that are no longer delivered to Vermont. 

Vermont buyers will shop in New Hampshire for new  gasoline vehicles.

“In a way, if you don’t create the demand of EVs, all you’re doing with this regulation — you’re not putting more EVs on the road, you’re harming the local businesses that sell vehicles of all types,” Cota said.

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Why did Cota wait so long to say this publicly?

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The Federal Government Just Killed California's EV Mandate

https://www.motor1.com/news/760472/california-ev-mandate-repealed/

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The Senate has blocked California’s plan to phase out gas-powered cars by 2035. Using an obscure rule allowing a simple majority 51-44 vote to prevail rather than the usual 60-vote threshold, the Federal government has effectively killed all EV mandates, with another useless legal battle sure to follow.

For 50 years, California has set tougher emissions rules than what is nationally required, with automakers and lawmakers falling in line to follow those tougher standards. That authority has gone unchallenged until now.