Last week, the Washington State Legislature passed SB 5811, which will make the state the 12th in the nation to adopt a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) program. Gov. Jay Inslee, an advocate in the fight against climate change, supports the ZEV program and is expected to sign the bill soon.
The ZEV program requires that automakers sell vehicles that do not produce emissions, giving Washingtonians more options for electric vehicles. The bill requires that 5% of vehicles sold by each automaker be electric or zero-emission by 2022. That figure will increase to 8% by 2025. Automakers that do not meet these targets will need to buy credits from automakers that do, including Tesla.
Washington had proposed an even stronger bill that would’ve required that all new cars sold in the state be electric by 2030, but that bill did not pass.
The ZEV program is the single biggest policy driver of EV adoption. It was introduced in California and has since been adopted by Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
“We are very excited that Washington has passed the ZEV program,” said Joel Levin, executive director of Plug In America. “Consumers want more choices in electric vehicles. This bill will ensure greater access to clean vehicles, thereby reducing air pollution, combating climate change, and improving public health. We hope more states follow and adopt the ZEV program to get more electric vehicles on the road across the United States.”
