Gov. Gavin Newsom recently doubled down on his mission to make California a haven where only new electric vehicles are sold, but most Californians — including fellow Democrats — are saying hell no, according to a new survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The survey, conducted June 29 to July 6, revealed that nearly 66% of adults and likely voters oppose Newsom’s executive order signed in 2020 that bans the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
The governor created such a ban as part of a mission to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“This is the most impactful step our state can take to fight climate change,” Newsom said then.
But since the order was issued, Californians have trended in the opposite direction. Compared to 2021, the share of Californians across all political stripes — even Democrats who tend to support climate-friendly policies — who say they oppose Newsom’s ban has increased.
For example, 31% of Democrats in the institute’s 2021 survey opposed the ban, but now half of them do. Among independents, the opposition share went from 56% to 69%. Overall, the share of adults who want to keep buying gas-powered cars has increased 17 points.
Mark Baldassare, the institute’s survey director, told the Post the trend’s underlying cause is the increasing unaffordability of the state.
He pointed to the declining share of people who when surveyed said they’re seriously considering buying an electric vehicle — now about a third compared to a half five years ago.
“If they’re not going to do it, and it’s something they’re going to be asked to be doing over the next few years, then I think that’s why people are at odds with the governor’s executive order,” he said.
Part of the reason EVs have lost appeal is because federal tax credits which boosted financial incentives have expired, Baldassare said. But just as important is the fact that electricity prices in California have spiked.
“We’ve got 6 in 10 people who are saying that they feel that utility prices in their part of California are a major problem,” he told The Post. “That number has gone up, and the reality is that if you have an electric vehicle, the electricity is not free.”
Those higher utility rates are also partly driven by the same green agenda from California Democrats who want the state grid to go carbon-free by 2045, which requires infrastructure upgrades and more costs passed onto ratepayers.
Wayne Winegarden, an economics fellow at free-market think tank Pacific Research Institute, said the survey revealed a fundamental sentiment about affordability.
“Families in California are feeling the costs from the state’s environmental policies. It’s why energy costs so much, contributes to the high cost of housing, and drives up the prices of most other products people buy,” he told The Post.
“Due to this struggle with affordability, Californians seem to be growing more cost sensitive.”
The declining EV appeal is in spite of the fact that California is facing sky-high gas prices. But at least gas pricing seems more transparent to consumers than how utilities price their bills, said Baldassare.
The fact that Californians of all political affiliations oppose the ban should send a message to policymakers — at least for now — to make adjustments or even course-correct on the issue, he added.
Still, Newsom has not given up on the electric vehicle mandate. He touted recently new legislation he signed that would create a $270 million rebate. The initiative will provide California residents with a $3,500 rebate on qualifying new electric vehicles with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $50,000 or less.
The legislation also includes a $1,750 rebate for qualifying used electric vehicles priced at $25,000 or below. It’s an attempt to replace the expiring federal incentives under Republican President Donald Trump.
“California is filling the void left by Trump and the GOP repealing the federal electric vehicle tax credit,” Newsom wrote on X. “We won’t forfeit the future to China.”
According to the California Energy Commission, there are over 1.25 million electric vehicles registered in the Golden State, with EVs representing about one in five new vehicle sales in the state last year.
