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Electric vehicle proponents like to shout back that there are no “EV mandates,” while on government websites that dictate which type of vehicles are allowable, and in what number, the mandates are clear as day. Here is California’s website for EV mandates, and a snippet of what it says about EVs:
Zero-emission vehicle requirements within ACC II are designed for new vehicles to reach 100% zero-emission and clean plug-in hybrid-electric in California by the 2035 model year. At present, zero-emission vehicle technologies are battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles.
Many states (blue ones) emulate California’s electric vehicle mandates, and some straight out legislate that they will follow the lead of the Golden State, rather than the EPA’s national rules. Two states that have done so are Massachusetts and Vermont. Both of these states are decidedly blue, and both went heavily for the Democratic party’s candidate appointee during last November’s Presidential election (There wasn’t a 2024 Democratic party primary at all for President in Massachusetts). Let’s examine some recent developments in these blue-blood states and see what government leaders have done with regard to EV mandates.
Vermont Pauses Electric Vehicle Sales Requirements
Vermont is America’s second-least populated state after Wyoming. Often thought of as a tourist state for its many ski areas, semiconductor manufacturing and farming are two of the state’s biggest economic drivers. Vermont is a quirky mix of Burlington’s high-tech scene and Ben and Jerry’s hippy culture. Mostly it’s empty. Virtually all of the state is densely wooded, other than tiny map dots on its border with New Hampshire and parts of the lakefront city of Burlington.
This week, Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott issued Executive Order 04-25, directing the Agency of Natural Resources to pause enforcement of a multi-state plan requiring vehicle manufacturers to meet certain electric vehicle (EV) sales targets for passenger cars and medium- and heavy-trucks. Is this because Vermont has suddenly decided to break bad and abandon green vehicles? Nope. Governor Scott is super popular in Vermont. He won the November 2024 election with one of the largest margins of victory in any Vermont gubernatorial election since the Second World War. Even a leader this popular would be tarred and feathered in Vermont if he proposed ending EV mandates. We’ll let Governor Scott’s office explain what Vermont is doing in its own words:
I continue to believe we should be incentivizing Vermonters to transition to cleaner energy options like electric vehicles. However, we have to be realistic about a pace that’s achievable. 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 Governor Scott. “We have much more work to do, in order to make it more convenient, faster, and more affordable to buy, maintain, and charge EV’s. When we do, it’s more likely that everyday Vermonters will make the switch.
On the official government webpage of Governor Scott, it states that “When it comes to transitioning to a low-carbon future, mandates are not going to be the total answer.” There is that mandate word again on an official government site. Pesky, how it keeps popping up.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts EV Truck Rules Change
Here in Massachusetts, we are very special, so we don’t call our state a state. Rather, it’s a Commonwealth. If you have not visited, it’s the sort of state that has a very high opinion of itself. Here’s just one example to give you the vibe. Folks here call Boston the “Hub.” As in “the hub of the Universe.” Residents are not stuck up so much as confidently self-assured that we are more intelligent and important than everyone else.
One example of that intelligence was to mandate that dealerships in the Commonwealth would be forced to sell a certain number of EV trucks. Here’s the mandate in the words of the official state website:
Under the ACT program, manufacturers are required to achieve a certain level of electric truck sales as a percentage of their overall sales. That percentage gradually increases year over year.
As of now, they are still “allowed” to sell the trucks that truckers want, ones powered by dirty diesel. However, in order to be allowed to do so, the dealers were mandated to sell 7 EVs to imaginary, non-existent buyers for every 93 normal trucks that truckers actually want to buy. You would not think that was a problem, but the EV mandate froze truck sales in the state in their tracks. You see, you’re never more than about an hour from another state when you are here, so people just stopped buying trucks inside of Mass. Multiple outlets reported that truck sales in the state dropped 99% after the recent EV mandate took effect.
The Governor of Mass. is Maura Healey, who really doesn’t like carbon-based fuels. She has become famous for saying in an interview that she “Stopped two gas pipelines from coming to the state,” just before natural gas prices went up and started freezing out lower-income residents.
This month, her administration has decided to add some “flexibility” to the EV truck mandate. Here’s what they say about this flexibility:
Today, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) announced enforcement discretion for manufacturers that are unable to meet minimum electric truck sales required under the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) program. Manufacturers that cannot meet those sales requirements will receive relief for Model Years 2025 and 2026, provided they make internal combustion engine (ICE) trucks available to distributors seeking them. This approach gives manufacturers more flexibility and eases the challenges dealers are facing, while keeping the state on track to achieve critically important emissions reductions.
One way to say this is that government appointees now have the flexibility to pick and choose when the state’s own mandates can just be ignored. Surely, that won’t lead to any sort of bribery or kickback scheme. We here in Mass. are immune to such things.
Author’s Take
The reality in America is that in every state, a supermajority of shoppers opts not to buy an EV. In nearly every state, more than 9 out of 10 shoppers buy something other than a battery-electric vehicle. Preference is part of why, but many folks have needs and wants that are not well aligned with the available EVs. For example, the top-selling vehicle type in America is the five-passenger, all-wheel drive, compact SUV. The RAV4 is a perfect example, being the top-selling vehicle in America. The average transaction price of that vehicle is $36,416. This is what shoppers choose more than any other vehicle in America, including pickups. Can you guess how many battery-electric vehicles meet that definition and price? It’s zero.
Politicians are pragmatic for the most part. They can read a room. If the EV mandates they hoped to institute need to be scaled back a bit, they will do that. That’s what is happening here. Most of the blue state politicians still want to force all Americans to do what California says must happen no later than 2035 – buy an EV. They just know that in the last election, one party won every swing state, and that they don’t want EVs to be the reason that happens in the midterms or the next general election. Saving the planet can wait a moment.
Our take may be way off base. Please tell us in our comments section what you make of blue states pumping the brakes on EV mandates. Why are they doing it?
John Goreham is a credentialed New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on Linkedin and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John’s by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.
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Source: torquenews.com
