California reconsidering 2035 electric vehicle sales mandate

California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez said the timeline is an open area of discussion.

California air quality regulators say the state's 2035 ban on gas car sales is open for discussion. Richard Vogel/AP

California regulators are reconsidering the state’s 2035 deadline for phasing out new gas car sales, the state’s top air quality official confirmed Wednesday.

What happened: California Air Resources Board Chair Lauren Sanchez said the agency will “rethink” the state’s goal for transitioning to electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid sales as part of its rulemaking on new emissions standards for light-duty vehicles that launched last week.

The 2035 target “remains a very ambitious goal” that will be a “very active area of discussion going forward,” Sanchez said in a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO.

“It will be the topic of discussion with stakeholders, automakers and everyone else ... legislators,” she added.

Why it matters: While congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump have revoked California's nation-leading vehicle emissions standards that run through 2035, Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) 2020 executive order banning the sale of new internal combustion engines by that date still remains in effect.

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