Electric Vehicles

The CalVans program in the Central Valley transports thousands of laborers to the fields. It is now trying to meet a mandate to electrify its fleet — a key test of how to make the state’s climate policies work in rural and disadvantaged areas.

Lack of EV chargers in remote areas could derail California’s aim to electrify cars. In Imperial County, residents have access to few public chargers and buy electric cars at only a fifth of the statewide rate.

Some automakers are reducing production of electric cars and Tesla sales have dropped. Can California sustain its record pace and meet the state mandate?

California has amassed a catalog of programs and projects that fail to deliver as promised. The list of dysfunctional efforts has a couple of new entries.

China modeled some of its climate programs on policies first adopted by California. Now, California depends on the world’s most populous country for essential materials in its electric vehicle ambitions.

Hydrogen fueling stations will get 15% of funds in a state program — even though Californians own only about 12,000 hydrogen cars. The funds come from fees paid by car owners.

Now that electric cars are mainstream, higher-income Californians will no longer qualify for state subsidies. Lower-income buyers could get up to $12,000.

State lawmakers are passing many, many bills before they end the legislative session next Thursday. But under California’s system of direct democracy — and happening at the same time — advocates for various causes are trying to go straight to the voters when their elected representatives won’t do what they want. Tuesday, victims’ families filed […]

How can California make sure the electric vehicle revolution isn’t just for the wealthy few? That was the big question in a CalMatters panel discussion Tuesday. While bringing down the cost of EVs is crucial, so is the availability of chargers. And that is something of a chicken-and-egg proposition. Some on the panel — moderated […]

Through bidirectional charging, owners of electric cars can sell energy to the grid or use it to power their homes. But will the technology, which is costly, become widespread?