The Free Ride for EVs in the Carpool Lane Is Coming to an End

A difficult year For the adoption of electric vehicles, it has become a little more difficult for owners in certain parts of the United States. From next month, electric vehicles will no longer be able to ride the fast track in California, after the American federal government and the Congress have failed to reautorize a popular program which has given hybrid and electric vehicles to access to the state carpooling and worked to promote the sale of electricity for more than 25 years.

As part of the program, Californian drivers with electric vehicles, rechargeable hybrid or hybrid fuel cell could buy $ 27 stickers that gave them access to several carpooling lanes, as well as discounts on a certain number of toll and bridges, even if a driver was alone in his car. More than a million decals have been issued to California drivers since the start of the program in 1999, and hundreds of thousands of vehicles have decals today.

However, these decals will no longer be valid after September 30, California Department of Motor Vehicles said in a press release. Drivers who currently have stickers – even those who have purchased them recently – do not receive reimbursements, confirmed the ministry.

California is not alone. Another pilot project which gave certain drivers of electric vehicles in New York State to access the carpooling tracks will also end. More than 48,000 New Yorkers had received decals thanks to this Clean Pass program.

The programs end because they were not reautilized by the president and the congress, explains Walter McClure, spokesperson for the New York motor vehicle department. The White House did not answer Wired questions about the reasons why President Donald Trump has chosen not to reautorize the program.

The end of the Decalcomania program is another return for American electric vehicles, which are faced with slower sales than projected in the country following a reduction in government support for new car technology. The priests rushed to buy new and used electric vehicles before the tax credits, of a value of up to $ 7,500, ending this month. But analysts expect American sales slowing down once again after the expiration of credit, even if the rest of the world continues its transition to electric vehicles. Barely a year ago, many analysts planned that between a quarter and a half of new American cars sold in 2030 would be electric; Since then, these projections have been reduced by half.

But although the end of the California program will probably frustrate many electric vehicle drivers, it may not make a significant breach in the transition of the state to new energy vehicles. The state ran before the rest of the country during the adoption of electric vehicles; According to state data, 22% of new light vehicles sold in the condition were electrical data, rechargeable hybrid or powered by hydrogen. Compare this to the 8% of new sales of electrified vehicles for the rest of the country, and the reason for closing the program could become clearer – it seems that the carpooling roads have closed.

The Décalcomania program “worked well as a package with monetary incentives”, explains Gil Tal, director of the UC Davis electric vehicle research center, which has studied the efficiency of the Décalcomanies program in the last decade. “It was another reason to buy an electric car.”