California Climate Policy Fact Sheet: Advanced Clean Cars

CALIFORNIA CLIMATE POLICY FACT SHEET:

ADVANCED CLEAN CARS

For more than 40 years, California has realized the benefits of its efforts to reduce pollution from motor

vehicles – improved air quality, lower fuel costs for consumers, and growth in the state’s economy. Yet

California’s transportation sector is now the largest contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in

the state, requiring California to seek more efficient and cleaner transportation alternatives. The Advanced

Clean Cars Program, introduced by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2012, is one of a suite

of programs to reduce GHG emissions and other toxic air pollutants. The program is a coordinated

package of regulations and incentives that builds upon previous efforts to control smog-causing, health-

harmful pollutants (known as criteria pollutants) and GHG emissions from passenger vehicles. The

program also complements many of the state’s existing emissions reduction programs, such as Cap-and-

Trade and the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). This California Climate Policy Fact Sheet outlines the

basic components and legal background of the Advanced Clean Cars Program and the broader clean

vehicle standards that contribute to attaining California’s air quality and climate goals.

Understanding California’s Advanced Clean Cars Program

The Advanced Clean Cars Program focuses on addressing both ambient air quality needs and climate

change through two distinct efforts: (1) Low-Emission Vehicle (LEV) regulation for criteria pollutants

and GHG emissions and (2) Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulation. The goal of the program is to

develop vehicles that are better for the environment while still meeting the performance and safety

standards that consumers expect.

1. LEV Regulation for Criteria Pollutants and GHG Emissions

The first LEV regulations were adopted by CARB in 1990 and required manufacturers to produce light-

and medium-duty vehicles that emitted fewer criteria pollutants like carbon monoxide and nitrogen

oxides. In 2004, following the landmark Assembly Bill 1493 (Health & Safety Code § 43018.5 et al.)

CARB added the first vehicle GHG emission limitations. Finally, as a part of the Advanced Clean Cars

Program, the LEV regulations were amended in 2012 to strengthen the Program by including

increasingly stringent criteria pollutant and GHG emission standards for new passenger vehicles

through the 2025 model year. In July 2019, CARB reached a groundbreaking agreement with major

automakers to proactively adopt a modified version of the GHG standards despite conflict with the US

Environmental Protection Agency over their validity under the Clean Air Act.

In order for a manufacturer to certify that a vehicle for sale in California meets LEV standards, it must

follow stringent emission testing procedures and requirements and receive verification from CARB.

CARB estimates that, thanks to this regulation, cars will emit 75% less in criteria pollutants and 40%

less in GHG emissions in 2025 compared to 2012 model year vehicles.

2. ZEV Regulation

The ZEV regulation mandates that manufacturers increase the number vehicles available for sale that

do not emit any exhaust, including battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and plug-in hybrid electric

vehicles. Even compared to 2025 vehicles under the strictest criteria pollutant and GHG standards,

ZEVs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles are significantly lower emitting.

Manufacturers must produce for sale in California a certain percentage of ZEVs and plug-in hybrid

electric vehicles in a given year, increasing from 4.5% in 2018 to 22% in 2025. Every vehicle receives

credits based on the number of miles the vehicle can travel powered by non-emitting sources (thus,

for example, a plug-in hybrid electric model receives limited credit for its battery-powered capacity).

A manufacturer can bank credits to use for compliance in future years or trade or sell credits. CARB

oversees the entire compliance process and posts annual credit information on its website. CARB

estimates that about 8% of new vehicles sold in 2025 will be ZEVs or plug-in electric hybrids.

In addition to the vehicle mandates, California automobile sellers and drivers need access to electric

vehicle charging infrastructure to create a robust market for ZEVs. To this end, in 2018 the California

Public Utilities Commission authorized the state’s three major investor-owned utilities to invest over

$750 million in public charging infrastructure, one of many efforts the state is making to meet its goal of

250,000 stations by 2025.

Key Legislation Related to the Advanced Clean Cars Program

 Federal Clean Air Act Section 209 allows California to obtain a “waiver” permitting it to set

vehicle emission standards more stringent than those set by the US Environmental Protection

Agency for all vehicles nationwide, which the law otherwise prohibits. In 2019, the Trump

Administration moved to revoke the 2013 waiver California obtained to authorize the

Advanced Clean Cars Program. This action raises questions about the future of the program,

although the administration’s novel legal grounds—there is no express revocation mechanism

under the law, and California still faces the “compelling and extraordinary” conditions that

merited the waiver—are subject to major litigation challenges.

 AB 1493 directed CARB to set requirements for achieving the maximum feasible reduction of

vehicle GHG emissions in the state, the first set of GHG emission standards for passenger

vehicles.

Key Outcomes and Next Steps for California Clean Car Policy and Regulation

California currently has 24 million registered passenger vehicles, with the vast majority burning fossil fuels.

Emissions in the transportation sector are currently responsible for half of the GHG emissions within

California and an even higher percentage of harmful criteria pollutants. Furthermore, Los Angeles and the

San Joaquin Valley are classified as “extreme” ozone non-attainment areas by the EPA, meaning that these

regions do not meet air quality standards designed to protect the public health. In order to meet its air

quality and climate goals, California will need mass consumer adoption of clean vehicles in the coming

years. The Advanced Clean Cars Program, building upon decades of effort within California to address

vehicle pollution, has proven to be an effective step in reducing the climate impact of the transportation

sector. Since 2010, more than 400,000 vehicles have registered as ZEVs and plug-in hybrids in California.

However, as the state seeks to obtain its ambitious 2030 and 2050 climate goals—including five million

ZEVs on the road by 2030—continued development of the Advanced Clean Cars Program and the

infrastructure needed to support clean transportation throughout California will be essential.