How California is winning the EV war against Trump’s rollbacks
Your morning catch-up: California’s EV revolution, 11 must-see things at the Lucas Museum and more big stories
- Share via
See more from the L.A. Times in Google Search. Set us as preferred
It’s no secret. President Trump loves to pick on California.
His administration has repeatedly centered its policy battles in the state, including on immigration, transgender athletes, guns, voting rights and especially — electric vehicles.
As the federal government works to slow the transition to EVs and promote a fossil fuel future for America, California aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2045 and get more gas-powered cars off the road.
In recent months, the president has taken dozens of steps to erode California’s ability to get there, my colleague Hayley Smith wrote. They include eliminating the federal tax credit for people who purchase EVs and repealing the basic finding that greenhouse gases are dangerous, which forms the legal basis for regulating vehicle emissions under the Clean Air Act.
Last year, Trump’s administration revoked California’s long-held authority to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than the federal government and overturned the state’s electric vehicle sales target.
Although the overall result has been a slower shift to EVs, California’s EV adoption continues to climb.
Here’s how the Golden State has continued to maintain its emissions authority, despite Trump’s effort to terminate EVs in the state.
Electric vehicle sales steadily rise
Despite national sales dropping sharply after Trump ended the $7,500 federal rebate in September 2025, California has held its ground.
In the second quarter of this year, about 19% of new car sales in the state were zero-emission vehicles. That’s almost three times higher than the nation as a whole.
Cumulatively, zero-emission vehicles now make up roughly 1 in 12 cars and pickups on California roads, and nearly 1 in 6 new cars sold in the state are fully electric.
And as lawmakers approve millions in state incentives to replace lost federal rebates, the state is seeing more people buying used EVs.
There’s still a real threat to California’s ambition, however, as the state is now defending its 2035 ban on the sale of new gasoline-powered cars in court. If it fails, California will have to find new ways to eliminate emissions from other sectors, according to Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board.
Charging stations are plentiful
The availability of charging stations plays a huge role in how fast people buy electric vehicles, and California now boasts more EV chargers than gasoline nozzles, according to the state Energy Commission.
The state has more than 216,000 publicly available EV chargers.
But last year, the Trump administration abruptly froze new funding for one of the key sources of help for new public chargers — the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program — while it rewrote the rules. California and other states sued to challenge the freeze, and a federal judge ruled the administration had acted unlawfully.
California’s expansion of chargers continued anyway. Of the 806 new public fast-charging stations added nationwide in the second quarter of this year, roughly 1 in 7 were in California — by far the most of any state, according to a report from Paren, an EV charging data and analytics platform.
California is also a leader in utilization, with fast chargers in use 23.1% of the time, second only to Washington, D.C., and Hawaii, according to Paren.
Read Hayley’s full story here, and tell us: Have you given up your gas vehicle and joined the growing number of EV drivers in California?
Top stories
California wants to list Jewish as an ethnicity
- California is poised to become the first state to treat Jewish identity as an ethnicity on official forms, with a new optional check box heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
- Some Jews believe the move would help people understand the community better, particularly on issues such as health and hate crimes. But some are wary about providing too much information, given the history of government-sanctioned persecution of Jewish people.
Becerra’s plan for the death penalty in California, if elected governor
- Democrat Xavier Becerra vows to extend California’s moratorium on the death penalty despite past support for capital punishment.
- Republican Steve Hilton and legal advocates highlight deeper clashes over voter-backed death penalty laws and shifts in state criminal justice laws.
L.A. fast-food workers could get more predictable schedules
- L.A. is weighing an ordinance to extend Fair Work Week scheduling rules to fast-food workers, adding predictable shifts and paid labor rights training for tens of thousands.
- Supporters say the largely female, immigrant fast-food workforce faces chaotic hours that derail child care, healthcare and budgets.
- Restaurant industry groups warn the proposal will drive up costs and risk worker privacy.
More news
- “Some of the most miserably humid air on record” is possible in L.A. County this week.
- Dozens of homes were evacuated in Long Beach due to storm damage and high surf.
- Social media turned Sunset Cliffs into a dangerous playground for young cliff jumpers.
- El Niño could bring waves of starving sea lion pups to California beaches. It’s happened before.
- What happened inside Telluride’s secret screening of Nathan Fielder’s new Elizabeth Holmes documentary.
- California water agencies may get a new defense in lawsuits over hydrants running dry in wildfires.
Commentary and opinion
- What we learned about AI last week should terrify all of us, argues columnist Anita Chabria.
- In his latest column, George Skelton writes about why the wildfire bill flameout is sad for California.
- Today’s tycoons learn a lesson from history — public esteem for rich entrepreneurs inevitably sours, columnist Michael Hiltzik argues.
Editor’s pick
Rafael Vela Gonzalez was taken by ICE from his Silver Lake home in January. His health has rapidly declined in the eight months he’s spent in detention.
More picks
- In this small Mexican town, avocados were a lifeline — and a curse.
- How an L.A. charter school has all but eliminated chronic absenteeism among homeless students.
Things to do
- 🏞️ These 13 California destinations are splendid in the fall — and now’s the time to book a trip.
- 🎞️Here’s 11 must-see things at the sprawling Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
- 🐈⬛ Here are 8 spots to cuddle with cats while sipping matcha, reading or just chilling in Greater L.A.
Today’s recipe
For this earthy and forgiving chile de árbol refried beans recipe, cookbook author and PBS TV travel show host Pati Jinich refries Peruano beans, cooking them with a few dried chiles de árbol. The recipe is adapted from Jinich’s upcoming cookbook, “Pati Jinich Foods of La Frontera: Recipes and New Taste Frontiers From Both Sides of the Border.”
Question for you
Have you given up your gas vehicle and joined the growing number of EV drivers in California? Tell us why or why not at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.
Photo of the day
Games
Here’s today’s mini crossword, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Jack Dolan, investigative reporter
Hugo Martín, assistant editor, fast break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com. Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
In our first episode, the L.A. Times columnist George Skelton sizes up the governors he’s known, what made them successful and whether the next one can measure up.
On screen, Errol Flynn played a series of daredevils, fortune hunters, and suave romantics. Off screen, he lived a life of outsize debauchery and recklessness, including a persistent interest in underage girls. In 1943, at the height of his fame, he faced trial in Los Angeles on charges of statutory rape.
How do you get more people to care about climate change — and tell riveting stories along the way? Boiling Point explored that question at a live event during this year’s New York City Climate Week at Columbia University’s Climate School.
