Historically, California has been progressive and innovative in relation to the automotive industry, environmental awareness, and they promote higher standards compared to other states. Hybrid, electric, alternative, and green are typically associated with the state of California and the innovations that are constantly being made to keep the auto industry relevant and environmentally friendly.
Let’s get you up-to-date on stats and facts related to California and the green and clean automotive industry.
According to the California Green Vehicle Report,the top five alternative powertrain vehicles are currently:
- Tesla Model 3 (electric)
- Ford Fusion (hybrid)
- Toyota Prius (hybrid)
- Toyota RAV4 (hybrid)
- Toyota Prius (plug-in hybrid)
The data shows that in 2018 electric vehicle registrations increased by 63.7% and hybrids increased 22.1%. Despite the elevation in registrations, gasoline-powered vehicles still own the market share. San Francisco Bay had the largest jump in alternative vehicle purchases, while Central Valley had the least.
The Incentives for Driving Alternative Vehicles in California
Why would one choose a hybrid or electric vehicle aside from wanting to be environmentally friendly? In California, there are other incentives to do so:
- Better warranties: Drive Clean states that a vehicle with a smog rating of 9 will be able to receive a 15 year/150,000 mile warranty, which is significantly longer than the average vehicle warranty.
- Greater efficiency: All alternative vehicles are more efficient than gasoline-powered ones, as they burn less fuel, therefore are more economical and also have more efficient technology.
- Financial incentives: Driving an alternative vehicle can get you tax breaks, rebates, discounts on insurance, along with other perks.
- Conveniences: While driving a hybrid, hybrid plug-in, fuel cell, or electric vehicle in California, you have a few perks that other drivers do not, such as driving in the HOV lane with only one occupant, free parking, and free vehicle charging at certain locations.
What is the environmental impact of driving an alternative vehicle?
There are so many wonderful benefits to driving hybrid or electric, which impact our environment in a positive way.
According to Drive Clean,
Californians drive 825 million miles every day – producing 5.4 million tons of smog forming pollutants and more than 350,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions daily. Since more than 50% of California’s total smog pollution and 38% greenhouse gas pollution comes from motor vehicles – your car is a good place to start cleaning things up. If that’s not bad enough, more than 95% of Californians live in areas that fail to meet federal or state air quality standards – a rapidly increasing health hazard to you, your children, their children, and so on.
Some specific environmental benefits to driving alternative vehicles include:
- Decreasing toxic emissions that are bringing about global warming
- Reducing the release of carbon dioxide into the air
- Less reliance on foreign oil, which not only has an environmental benefit, but also a political one as well
If you are already driving green, then you most likely are aware of the economical, personal, and environmental advantages of doing so; however, if you are still driving a traditional gasoline-powered vehicle, you may want to look more closely at the perks California offers for purchasing an electric, hybrid, or fuel cell vehicle. It may just be worth it to make the switch.
