Eligibility and Credits

The regulation applies to automakers (not dealers) and covers only new vehicle sales. Itdoes not impact existing vehicles on the road today, which will still be legal to own and drive.

Plug-in hybrid, full battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles count toward an automaker’s requirement. PHEVs must have an all-electric range of at least 50 miles under real-world driving conditions. In addition, automakers will be allowed to meet no more than 20% of their overall ZEV requirement with PHEVs.

Battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles will need a minimum range of 150 miles to qualify under the program, include fast-charging ability and come equipped with a charging cord to facilitate charging, and meet new warranty and durability requirements.

Enhanced Durability and Warranty Requirements

The new regulation also takes regulatory steps to assure that ZEVs can be full replacements to gasoline vehicles, hold their market value for owners, and that used car buyers are getting a quality vehicle that will not pollute.

By model year 2030, the rules require the vehicle to maintain at least 80% of electric range for 10 years or 150,000 miles. (Phased in from 70% for 2026 through 2029 model year vehicles.) By model year 2031, individual vehicle battery packs are warranted to maintain 75% of their energy for eight years or 100,000 miles. (Phased in from 70% for 2026 through 2030 model years.) ZEV powertrain components are warranted for at least three years or 50,000 miles.

Environmental Justice

As noted, the regulation delivers substantial emission reductions to all Californians, with particular benefits to those who live near roadways and suffer from persistent air pollution. The durability and warranty requirements in the regulation will help establish a viable and dependable used ZEV market to ensure the emission benefits are permanent, and the regulation includes an approach that provides credits to automakers for certain actions that increase access to ZEVs by low-income households and people living in disadvantaged communities.

Increasing Access to Zero-Emission Vehicles for all Californians

Governor Newsom proposed, and the Legislature has approved, $2.7 billion in fiscal year 2022-23, and $3.9 billion over three years, for investment in ZEV adoption, as well as clean mobility options for California’s most environmentally and economically burdened communities. These programs support the new regulation by increasing access to ZEVs for all Californians, including moderate- and low-income consumers. They include:

 – Clean Cars 4 All provides up to $9,500 to low-income drivers who scrap their older vehicles and want to purchase something that runs cleaner.

 – The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) provides up to $7,000 for income-qualified drivers to buy or lease a ZEV.

– The Clean Vehicle Assistance Program provides low-income car buyers with special financing and up to $5,000 in down-payment assistance.

The Governor’s ZEV budget includes $400 million over three years for the statewide expansion of Clean Cars 4 All and for a suite of clean transportation equity projects. The budget also includes $525 million for the Clean Vehicles Rebate Project (CVRP). In addition, there is $300 million for more charging infrastructure, especially for those consumers who may not have a garage where they can charge their EV.

Consumer Savings

Drivers of full battery-electric vehicles already save money on operation and maintenance compared to cars with internal combustion engines. That’s the result of cheaper fuel — charging at home costs about half as much as gasoline for the same number of miles driven — and battery-electric vehicles can save drivers 40% in maintenance costs.

CARB analysis indicates that battery-electric vehicles are likely to reach cost parity with conventional vehicles by 2030. By 2035, consumers are likely to realize as much as $7,900 in maintenance and operational savings over the first 10 years of ownership. Owners will also see 10-year savings from 2026 model year battery-electric vehicles, though not quite as much.

Stringent Standards for Conventional Cars

As with the original Advanced Clean Cars rules, ACC II includes updated regulations for light- and medium-duty internal combustion engine vehicles as well, to mitigate the air quality impacts from conventional vehicles. These low-emission vehicle standards help deliver real-world emission benefits that complement more significant emission reductions gained by wider ZEV deployment. This will prevent potential emission backsliding by removing ZEVs from the emissions baseline used to calculate new vehicle fleet-average emissions. The regulation also reduces the allowable exhaust emissions under more real-world driving conditions and emissions caused by evaporation.

Background

Transportation is responsible for approximately 50% of greenhouse gas emissions (when accounting for fuel production emissions) and 80% of air pollutants in California.

The ACC II regulation is phase two of the Advanced Clean Cars Program, originally adopted by CARB in 2012. The regulation was designed to bring together CARB’s passenger vehicle requirements to meet federal air quality standards and also support California’s AB 32 statute to develop and implement programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions back down to 1990 levels by 2020, a goal achieved in 2016 as a result of numerous greenhouse gas emissions mitigation programs.

The ACC II regulation is a major tool in the effort to reach the SB 32 target of reducing greenhouse gases an additional 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, while also achieving Governor Newsom’s 2035 target for ending sales of new internal-combustion engine passenger vehicles. Ending sales of vehicles powered by fossil fuels is a critical element in the state’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 or sooner.

Other States

States that currently follow California’s vehicle rules are expected to adopt these regulations through their own rulemakings, gaining the clean air and climate benefits the regulation delivers. These states constitute about 40% of the nation’s new car sales.