The big ifs, though, are whether there will be enough precious metals, such as lithium, to make the batteries and whether EV prices will come down quickly enough. Laurie Holmes, senior manager of government affairs for Kia, told California officials Thursday that the industry could have difficulty meeting sales targets. She urged the state to support incentives for consumers to buy EVs and to help build out a charging system.
“Altogether, the lifetime emissions for an electric car or and electric pickup are less than half that of a gasoline vehicle,” Reichmuth said. The gap between gas and electric will grow as more electricity comes from renewable sources such as wind and solar, he said. “There’s nothing that we’re going to do when it comes to aggressively promoting electrification that will be worse for the planet than burning fossil fuels,” said Margo Oge, chair of the International Council for Clean Transportation and a former top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official.Currently, 17 other states have adopted California's greenhouse gas emissions requirements, most on the coasts. In total, they account for about 40% of all U.S. new vehicle sales.