Car dealers’ campaign to pause California’s EV mandate hits the airwaves

Why it matters: California’s Advanced Clean Cars II rule requires 35% of cars sold by each manufacturer to be electric starting in model year 2026, before eventually banning sales of gas and hybrid options in 2035. Car dealers say those targets are out of reach — EVs accounted for 22% of the new California car market last year — and are warning that companies will likely send fewer gas and hybrid models to the state to avoid financial penalties. Fewer models on dealership lots would mean higher prices for consumers.

What’s the angle? The California New Car Dealers Association says California needs to pause the rule to give the state and the industry time to negotiate a path forward on vehicle electrification that accounts for consumer demand and EV charging infrastructure challenges. Car manufacturers overwhelmingly oppose the rule, although Stellantis, the parent company of brands like Dodge and Jeep, reached a deal with the state last year to follow the rule even if it goes away.

California’s response: CARB Chair Liane Randolph pushed back against the industry in a statement, calling the arguments a "false narrative" and a "misleading attempt to create an artificial crisis that undermines California’s public health goals.” She said the rule gives car manufacturers three years to make up EV sales deficits and that they can use credits earned through previous sales of ZEV models to stay in compliance.

Federal uncertainty: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced earlier this month that the agency had sent Congress California’s waiver — approved under President Joe Biden — which allows the state to enforce the program. That move opened a 60-day window for lawmakers to revoke the waiver through the Congressional Review Act. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) are expected to introduce resolutions starting the revocation process.

For more, read the full story in POLITICO's California Climate newsletter.

This story is published in partnership with POLITICO.