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California’s electric vehicle mandates, which go into effect next year, are “impossible” to meet and will result in reduced choices on dealer lots.
“I have not seen a forecast by anyone”, Jack Hollis, chief operating officer of Toyota Motor North America, said on a Friday roundtable discussion, “government or private, anywhere that has told us that that number is achievable. At this point, it looks impossible.”
Hollis continued, “Demand isn’t there. It’s going to limit a customer’s choice of the vehicles they want.”
That’s thanks to California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II), adopted by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2022. CARB consists of 12 lackeys appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, two more members appointed by the state legislature’s environmental justice committees, and two non-voting members providing “legislative oversight” for the Assembly and State Senate.
CARB enjoys broad regulatory powers and isn’t shy about using them. ACC II requires that 35% of 2026 model-year cars and trucks sold in California be zero-emission vehicles. Mostly that means electric vehicles, although fuel-cell cars (anyone still making those?) and certain plug-in hybrids also qualify.
“It’s going to distort the industry. It’s going to distort the business”, Hollis also said. “Why? Because it’s unnatural to what the current demand in the marketplace is.
