PD Editorial: Don’t kick electric vehicles out of carpool lanes just yet

Californians are about to lose one of the best perks of owning an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle — the right to drive in the carpool lane no matter how many people are in the car. Two programs intended to improve air quality and tackle climate change are colliding. The winner for now should be the one that helps the state reach its ambitious climate goals.

Without congressional and state legislative action, clean-air vehicles’ unfettered access to the diamond lanes will expire on Sept. 30, 2025. The timing couldn’t be worse. Sales of electric vehicles, though still robust, are slowing nationally amid consumers’ concerns about range, availability of chargers, increasing electric rates and other factors.

California dominates the electric vehicle market nationally. The top-five metro areas by percentage of electric vehicles among new auto registrations last year were all in California: San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.

That’s good for California, but the yawning disparity with other metro areas and states illustrates America’s ongoing challenge with addressing climate change. San Jose approached 40% electric vehicle registrations. Other metro areas around the country languish in single digits. They include New York City, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago, Philadelphia, Tampa, Houston, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit.

California should continue to raise the bar. A quarter of the new cars sold in the state last year were electric, a substantial increase from nearly 19% in 2022. But there’s a long way to go to hit the state’s climate goals. Zero-emission vehicles are supposed to make up 35% of new car sales in 2026, 68% in 2030 and 100% in 2035.

The loss of an incentive therefore is worrisome. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a paramount priority for the state and the world. California is showing the rest of the country what can be done. It mustn’t let up now.

Advocates of letting the HOV privilege expire make a reasonable argument. If there are fewer vehicles eligible to use the HOV lanes, there will be less congestion in those lanes. Traffic will flow more smoothly, resulting in decreased vehicle emissions, which is what everyone wants. It also will encourage electric vehicle owners to carpool, further reducing congestion on California’s crowded highways.

But all of that would harm the still-nascent electric vehicle market, and that would be bad news for climate change.

Perhaps there is room for compromise. Let access expire in places with especially high congestion so that more people carpool. Keep access for a few years more in places where there is less traffic, especially rural areas where long drives are one more disincentive to buying an electric vehicle. Special access to HOV lanes will need to wind down someday, but not yet, at least not everywhere.

The challenge will be getting elected officials to agree on extending the program. State lawmakers hardly need another priority distraction as they tackle a budget deficit, but at least the Democratic majority could be swayed. Congress is another matter. With climate-skeptical Republicans controlling the House of Representatives and national elections looming, pro-electric vehicle legislation could be heavy lift. California’s delegation should start the conversation now so there’s a chance of action next year in a new Congress with, perhaps, new leaders.

You can send letters to the editor to letters@pressdemocrat.com.