How could this possibly go wrong?
California made huge waves throughout the media and public when it finalized plans to outlaw the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035. Then it came out that Virginia has a trigger law in effect, forcing it to go along with California’s emissions standards changes. Now there are 17 states in total which are considering jumping off the EV cliff because California will.
See what happens when a bear gets into your car here.
I remember as a child one of the most common things for parents to ask their children who were succumbing to peer pressure was if they would jump off a cliff just because their friends were. I used to think that sounded absolutely ridiculous, yet as an adult I’ve observed plenty of adults do mindless stuff because it’s “what you do.”
Per The Detroit News, Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Vermont are likely to adopt the California ICE ban. Surprisingly, Colorado and Pennsylvania are maybes but are expected to likely no. Minnesota is reportedly a toss-up at the moment thanks to the political atmosphere there. Considering how poorly EVs do in sub-zero temperatures, it’s easy to understand why they’re not more popular in the Great Lakes region.
One question I don’t hear anyone asking so far is how these new standards will affect companies trying to recruit anyone from out of state. Would these laws block someone moving from Arizona to California from registering their newer gas-burning car? That alone might make some perspective employees reconsider taking an offer.
The other states which might follow the California ban are Connecticut, Maine, Delaware, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and District of Columbia (which for some reason is being counted as a state). Again, imagine the logistics of moving to one of these states after the ban is put into place and it’s easy to see how this could backfire economically.
Source: The Detroit News
Images via Ford, Kia
