Featured Would there have even been a Prius?

I think the Echo and the Prius were Toyota competing for marketshare with Honda CRX design that was getting upwards of 60mpg. Before EVs there's always been a demand for the highest MPG car possible once the US had an oil crisis in the late 70's

 

When I first moved here in the mid-1990s, you could end up smelling like an ashtray from taking a walk outdoors on the central part of the university campus.

 

As I already pointed out at post #12, California's "2035 new gas powered car sales ban mandate" does not ban all new gas powered light vehicles / cars. PHEVs can qualify for continued sales, and the 2026 RAV4 Plug-in already does. But scaremongers such as that outlet, nearly always hide that part.

And plenty of people still keep ignoring (or denying) the giant elephant in the room.

 

Like with the ZEV program, CARB had the means to adjust a year's targets.

Japan also had programs for reducing emissions going back to the 1970s. Godzilla vs Hedorah came out in 1971.

Later forms of those programs provided subsidies for the first Prius sales.

 

I don't mean to pile-on; Ca and CARB states don't dictate federal laws - It's just an affirmation that they are trying to remain as green as possible.
There's always used cars and out-of-state cars, by the time they reach the border, they'll be used..

That's just well-crafted laws/policies. Still friends with one of the guy's that was on that panel - he's since retired and passed on the reigns. We called it the fudge-factor clause - so OEM hands weren't tied, if something unforeseen happen - like COVID. That way it didn't have to go back thru state legislators for amendment and exceptions.

 

So Ford and Chevy are going to start making econo cars again? Where's my $15,000 Chevy Spark?

 

My understanding had been that new or used status didn't matter, only model year. Any non-qualifying light vehicles built after the deadline could not be registered in that state, or in my state. Pre-deadline used cars could still be traded and transferred and registered forever.

And it seemed few people really expected the deadline to actually happen on schedule, just as California's 1990s EV mandate didn't happen on schedule. Not even close.

 

Somebody may have made changes - the version I saw was much looser. Refusing to register a federally authorized cars on federally funded roads, would open up a can of worms that may step into constitutional territory, a waste of our time and efforts; but probably not for short sighted people with blinders on. The radical left must've gotten a hold of it.

 

I guess the state could stop receiving road and bridge funds from the federal gas tax?

Oddly enough, the federal government didn't help fund roads and highways like they do now back in the early years of the USA due in part to "constitutional concerns." Not to mention that the federal government doesn't entirely fund road and bridge building either as state taxes usually cover a large portion of the cost.

https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R42140/R42140.4.pdf

Personally I don't believe that the ultimate goal is to make cars more affordable. At least in terms of bringing back the econo car. The cheaper cars sold in the USA have historically been built in other countries. Geo Metro, VW Beetle (the air-cooled version), and more recently the Mitsubishi Mirage, Mazda 2, Chevy Spark, Nissan Versa, etc. were all built outside of the USA as US labor costs make building a sub $30,000 car here prohibitive. If I'm not mistaken the Toyota Corolla is the cheapest USA built car.

So if we think of tariffs, then how are cars going to get more affordable? The Chevy Trax is $22,000 or so, and that could be with a loss as it's built in South Korea and should incur a tariff. The Mazda 2, Toyota Yaris, and many others are all build outside of the USA.

 

Digging for my state's law on this, Chapter 173-423 WAC, I now see used vehicles exceeding 7500 miles among a list of many exemptions. Other exemptions include non-residents moving into the state and bringing a previously purchased vehicle with them, vehicles acquired through inheritance, divorce, dissolution or legal separation, military members stationed outside the state, and many others.