It’s not that anyone is saying the idea behind driving more electrical vehicles is a bad one, it’s just the state’s mandate that a certain amount of them must be sold that’s shaping up to be a problem.
The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy met Wednesday to hear testimony on a number of bills related to electric vehicles and charging capacity and among them were a pair aimed at delaying the planned implementation of the state’s zero-emission vehicle sales goals.
The bills, both titled “An Act relative to the sale of zero-emission vehicles,” would give the Department of Environmental Protection the ability to assess whether or not the mandated amount of electric cars and trucks to be sold — at least 35% for the 2026 model year and climbing to 100% by 2035 — are genuinely available for consumer purchase within the Commonwealth.
If it’s determined that there aren’t enough electric vehicles to meet the state’s mandate, the proposal would allow DEP to “postpone, for any model year, implementation of the zero emission vehicle requirements that manufacturers must produce and deliver for sale to its franchisee dealers in the commonwealth at the level of required percentages.”
The bill also stipulates that the same case-by-case postponement may occur if the department determines there are not yet sufficient charging stations available to meet the needs of consumers.
The electric vehicle mandate was contained in “An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind,” signed into law by former Gov. Charlie Baker in 2022. The law requires all new vehicles sold in the state be zero emissions by 2035 in order to meet the state’s 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal.
That’s probably not going to be possible, according to Republican Rep. David Muradian Jr., who told his colleagues it may be best to pump the brakes a bit.
“The gradual transition to zero emissions vehicles — or ZEVs — is a noble one, but the reality is that a mandate of 35% for model year ’26 and moving to 100% by model year ’35 is simply not realistic,” he said.
Muradian said that a pause in implementation would allow the state’s automobile dealerships the time required to “catch up” and align their inventories and sales practices with the state’s climate goals. As it stands, he said, less than 10% of vehicles sold in the state are zero emissions.
Not allowing a delay on the new rules, will “drastically hurt our residents, consumers, automobile dealers and manufacturers, and — frankly — our entire economy,” Muradian said.
But according to advocates with the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, delaying the electric vehicle mandate means delaying the state’s 2050 net-zero goals, and that itself would be a violation of law.
“By state law, Massachusetts must reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions, and the state’s Clean Energy & Climate Plan makes it clear that we cannot reduce emissions to this level without converting nearly all of the fleet to electric vehicles. Since vehicles are generally on the road for 15 years, we cannot keep selling new gas cars after 2035. Increasing electric vehicle adoption also benefits our state economically and betters public health,” they said in written testimony.