Senator Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach), Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, issued the following statement in response to the vote in the U.S. Senate today, which repeals Governor Newsom’s aggressive ban on gas-powered cars by 2035:
“Let’s face it. We need to ‘Make California Affordable again’ by giving consumers options and not boxing them into a single choice and forcing them to purchase expensive electric vehicles they can’t afford.
“An article from Axios stated that Americans are defaulting on their car payments at a ‘record level,’ and Kelley Blue Book prices a new EV at nearly $60,000, with a used one at $40,000. It’s neither fair nor right to lure consumers into buying an EV only for them to default on their car payments. The ripple effect would be devastating for consumers and businesses.
“Furthermore, as Vice Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and a member of the Senate Energy Committee, I am concerned that California is not truly prepared to have 15 million electric vehicles on the road by 2035. We face major obstacles. If everyone plugs in and charges their EVs, we will experience rolling blackouts because of inadequate energy capacity.”
Recently, Senator Strickland signed on to a letter addressed to United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) and Adam Schiff (D-California), urging them to repeal Governor Newsom’s aggressive electric vehicle mandate, which would ban gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Click HERE to read the entire letter.
… “The state is already struggling to maintain a dependable electric grid during heatwaves and peak usage periods. While Democrat leadership in this state has boasted about ‘nation-state’ or ‘nation-leading’ policies, a strict mandate that drives up the cost of living without reliable infrastructure in place to support is not just unwise, it is reckless rule making.” …
In an exclusive report dated May 17, The Wall Street Journal reported that “GM Is Pushing Hard to Tank California’s EV Mandate” and in February, CalMatters reported that Californians are not buying EVs fast enough. In a separate article from 2024, CalMatters reported back then that California needed a million EV charging stations by 2030, which would be ‘unlikely’ and ‘unrealistic.’