California officials released recommendations Tuesday for supporting the electric vehicle market amid attacks from the Trump administration, calling on lawmakers to bolster tax incentives and improve charging infrastructure but offering few specific targets.
What happened: The joint report — issued by the California Air Resources Board, California State Transportation Agency, California Energy Commission and other agencies — comes in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s June executive order directing agencies to double down on EVs after Republicans revoked the state’s sales mandates for cars and heavy-duty trucks using the Congressional Review Act.
Why it matters: The recommendations, which largely push Newsom and lawmakers to bolster strategies already in place, highlight the steep hurdles regulators face as they attempt to replace the emission and pollution reductions anticipated from their nation-leading regulations to phase out fossil fuel cars and trucks that are now defunct.
Attorney General Rob Bonta has sued to restore the Advanced Clean Cars II and Advanced Clean Trucks rules; however, that case could take years to be resolved in court. Meanwhile, top truck manufacturers reached an agreement with the Trump administration last week to break a voluntary agreement on the truck sales rule, and plummeting Tesla sales have contributed to the overall EV market share decline in the state.
