Tesla and other electric vehicle makers active in California have a chance to benefit from a $1.5-billion package aimed at motivating businesses and individuals to switch from regular cars to EVs and hydrogen vehicles, CNBC reports.
The package is part of a $4.5-billion budget proposal for this year by Governor Gavin Newsom, a renewable energy hardliner who last year proposed that sales of internal combustion engine cars be banned from 2035.
The package, in addition to a stimulus for the purchase of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, also seeks to stimulate investment in related infrastructure such as charging points, which is essential for the mass proliferation of EVs and hydrogen cars.
Governor Newsom last September signed an executive order seeking to ban the sales of new ICE cars in the state of California from 2035.
"In the next 15 years we will eliminate in the state of California the sales of internal combustion engines," the Governor said at a news conference before signing the executive order. "If you want to reduce asthma, if you want to mitigate the rise of sea level, if you want to mitigate the loss of ice sheets around the globe, then this is a policy for other states to follow."
California is the biggest single car market in the States and the biggest EV market. Like other car markets, however, sales there so far this year have been stifled by the pandemic and the movement restrictions it necessitated.
The future, however, is bright. According to the CNBC report, this year will see the release of as many as 11 new electric car models, all made in the U.S. Several import models by Volkswagen and Nissan, among others, will also debut in the States this year.
The proposed package will likely additionally boost EV makers' stocks, even those of companies that have yet to show something more than a prototype. Tesla, which recently hit a market cap of $700 billion for the first time ever, will likely continue rising further.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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