{"id":379390,"date":"2025-05-22T14:39:49","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379390"},"modified":"2025-05-22T14:39:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T12:39:51","slug":"vermont-hits-brakes-on-ev-mandate-admits-tech-and-infrastructure-arent-ready","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=379390","title":{"rendered":"Vermont Hits Brakes on EV Mandate: Admits Tech and Infrastructure Aren\u2019t Ready"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legal Insurrection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another state discovers California-style mandates are not workable given the current technologies and infrastructure.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted by Leslie Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 <\/a>his state\u2019s EV mandate<\/a> at the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just last month, Maryland\u2019s governor delayed its sad attempt to be East Coast California<\/a> via a similar mandate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Vermont Governor Phil Scott issued an executive order halting the enforcement of the state\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This pause affects passenger cars and medium\u2014to heavy-duty trucks and continues the trend of progressive states following California into a progressive blackhole of senseless energy policies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Vermont is one of 11 states including New York, Maryland and Massachusetts that have adopted California\u2019s zero-emission vehicle rules, which seek to end the sale of gasoline-only vehicles by 2035. California\u2019s rules require 35% of light-duty vehicles in the 2026 model year to be zero-emission models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cIt\u2019s clear we don\u2019t have anywhere near enough charging infrastructure and insufficient technological advances in heavy-duty vehicles to meet current goals,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to note that according to an analysis by Here Technologies and SBD Automotive<\/a>, Vermont has one of the more favorable EV charging networks in the country, with a +1.3 charger-to-electric-vehicle ratio. That means if the mandate can\u2019t work there, it won\u2019t be working anywhere\u2026and that includes California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local automobile dealers, who have to address the realities of customer preferences, are delighted with this news<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Vermont\u2019s auto dealers, meanwhile, welcomed news of the executive order. The California rule doesn\u2019t obligate local dealers to sell a certain percentage of electric vehicles, rather it requires car and truck manufacturers to, starting in model year 2026, ensure that 35% of vehicles shipped to those dealers be zero emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt Cota, with the Vermont Vehicle and Automotive Distributors Association, said that demand for those EVs doesn\u2019t yet exist in Vermont (about 14% of new cars registered in Vermont last year were zero emission).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cota said manufacturers would likely comply with the mandate by sending fewer total vehicles to Vermont dealers. And 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a way, if you don\u2019t create the demand of electric vehicles, all you\u2019re doing with this regulation \u2014 you\u2019re not putting more electric vehicles on the road, you\u2019re harming the local businesses that sell vehicles of all types,\u201d Cota said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It must be noted that the rollback of a federal waiver of the special California rules is poised to occur, which means these governors are simply getting ahead of the likely regulatory changes <\/a>related to energy policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The governor\u2019s decision is a setback for California, whose 2022 Advanced Clean Cars law makes it possible for states to mandate EVs. The 1970 Clean Air Act allows California to obtain a federal waiver to issue vehicle emissions regulations that are stricter than federal emissions standards and for other states like Vermont to adopt those regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December, the Biden administration issued a waiver green-lighting California\u2019s Advanced Clean Cars rules, which a dozen states have adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The House recently passed a bill to revoke that waiver, but the Senate has yet to take it up. The Trump administration said in February that it would support revoking the waiver.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I predict other states who followed California\u2019s lead are going to rethink their plans. Furthermore, given Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s hot, new, centrist rebranding<\/a>\u2026.I foresee him \u201cdelaying\u201d the EV mandate for California on the way out the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

What’s the over\/under that California Gov. Gavin Newsom jettisons state EV mandates as part of his hot new centrist rebranding efforts? https:\/\/t.co\/X4SzxOXFaj<\/a>\u2014 Leslie Eastman \u2625 (@Mutnodjmet) May 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another state discovers California-style mandates are not workable given the current technologies and infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":379393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691822352,691826579,691818154,691835241,691829240,691835240],"class_list":{"0":"post-379390","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-electric-vehicle-ev","9":"tag-ev-mandate","10":"tag-net-zero","11":"tag-special-california-rules","12":"tag-vermont","13":"tag-zero-emission-vehicle-rules","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/OIG4-10.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1AHc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":264326,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=264326","url_meta":{"origin":379390,"position":0},"title":"The EV Kool-Aid acid Test","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"28\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In his 1968 book\u00a0The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, author Tom Wolfe portrayed Ken Kesey as a man seeking to create a new religion. 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