No Ban: Connecticut Scraps 2035 ICE Ban Plan

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When California governor and former CleanTechnica contributor Gavin Newsom announced that the state would ban the sale of most internal-combustion vehicles in 2035, a number of states immediately followed suit. But now, the word is that Connecticut governor Ned Lamont is withdrawing proposed regulations that aligned with California’s clean vehicle standards.

The proposed regulations to ban the sale of ICE vehicles after 2035 were withdrawn Tuesday, with Lamont ‘s claiming that a lack of legislative support was behind the decision. State lawmakers are likely to reconsider the issue during the next legislative session next year, however – but it remains to be seen what support for a law that requires the purchase of potentially pricier EVs will look like after another year of slowing vehicle sales, anti-EV FUD, and increased franchise dealer lobbying.

Political conservatives, climate deniers, emotional f*ckwits, and other assorted wrong-thinkers are, of course, thrilled. “The tide is turning as state officials across the country wake up to the reality that California’s electric-truck mandates are bad policy that carry serious political consequences,” offers American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. “Technically unachievable standards and unrealistic timelines that set the trucking industry and consumers up for failure are not how we achieve our shared goal of further reducing emissions.”

Connecticut is the latest state – following North Carolina and Maine – to walk back its plans to restrict sales of new fossil fuel -powered vehicles. “Blindly following California’s sure-to-fail approach is not the only option,” according to Spear.

Over in reality, the rapid electrification of the medium and heavy-truck segment continues to gain steam globally, with nearly 66,000 electric buses and 60,000 medium- and heavy-duty electric sold worldwide in 2022, representing about 4.5% of all bus sales and 1.2% of global truck sales … with Northern Europe and China (of course) contining to lead the charge.

The number of models on offer for zero-emission trucks has continued to expand in 2023, with more than 840 current and announced medium- and heavy-duty vehicle models in the Global Drive to Zero Emission Technology Inventory (ZETI) database – which should lead anyone paying attention to a single conclusion: the US continues to fall behind.

Sources: CCJ, IEA; featured image via Volvo Trucks.