California set to ban new ICE car sales by 2035

A ban on new internal combustion engine (ICE) car sales is expected to be applied by the California Air Resources Board in the US state.

Tough rules stopping the sale of fossil fuel new cars are likely to be passed by the agency, US media saying it will have major implications for the US car market considering how large California’s economy is.

The California Air Resources Board will vote on the measure Thursday afternoon (August 25), board member Daniel Sperling told CNN.

The new rules are likely to include new ICE car phase out targets.

Starting with 2026 models, 35% of new cars, SUVs and small pickups sold in California would be required to be zero-emission vehicles, according to CNN. “That quota would increase each year, expected to reach 51% of all new car sales in 2028, 68% in 2030 and 100% in 2035. The quotas also would allow 20% of zero-emission cars sold to be plug-in hybrids.”

The new rules aren’t expected to impact used vehicles.

Sperling says he’s “99.9%” confident the measure will pass, which would be one of the first such bans worldwide.

This is the most important thing that CARB has done in the last 30 years, Sperling says. “It’s important not just for California, but it’s important for the country and the world.”

Automotive companies such as Ford and GM have already announced moves toward zero-emission cars, trucks and SUVs.

CNN says California’s new ICE car ban proposal was helped by the Biden administration, which reinstated California’s ability to set its own vehicle emission standards earlier this year after the previous Trump administration rolled back the California waiver in 2019.