it costs over one hundred dollars to fill up this tank here in California here in California the
price of a gallon of gas is more than five dollars in California you will pay five dollars a gallon
on average while in Texas that's three dollars forty three cents it's a ripoff absolutely I
have two homes in Bullhead City Arizona and their gas is always at least a dollar to a dollar and a
half a gallon cheaper how can that be if it's not the taxes in the state of California California
has the most expensive gas in the country well usually and this is no accident see for every
gallon of gas you buy the federal government and state government needs their cut that's called
your gas tax and that's built into the price but in order for the government to be able to
build roads and bridges well it needs money and it gets money every time you pump your gas California
generated 7.4 billion dollars from gas purchases in the past year it's crazy living in California
it's kind of ridiculous obviously the wages here are more but they're not like that much more we're
paying what double the gas prices and now things are going to change but why is California getting
rid of gas cars see California is becoming the first state to ban the sale of gas cars this
will start in 2035. now remember you could still drive a gas car after that but you just won't be
able to buy one so if this happens gas stations would eventually just not exist and California is
already ahead one percent of cars in the US are electric but of the cars that were registered in
California last year almost 20 percent of them are electric but where will the state get gas
revenue from to build your roads and bridges and what does this all mean for your car and the way
you drive California is Banning the sale of new gas powered cars by 2035. it's a major victory
for climate activists who have been pushing this for years but some people are skeptical didn't
they already put the legislation in so like I do believe it but if it actually happens or Not
Guaranteed I guess we'll just have to see there are a few reasons why California is doing this
the first gas powered cars are a major source of air pollution they emit harmful pollutants that
contribute to respiratory problems heart disease and cancer number two gas-powered cars contribute
to climate change seat when gas is burned it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which
traps heat and warms the planet environmentally it's a lot better than gasoline especially with
how like now we have global warming so a lot of the process could be fixed we just have electrical
bars the plan is to gradually phase out the sale of gas powered cars over the next 13 years and by
2026 all new cars sold in California will have to be zero emission Vehicles like electric cars or
plug-in hybrids and nine years later no new gas powered cars will be allowed to be sold in the
state I'll probably buy a Ford Lightning pickup truck because I've been buying Ford pickups for
20 years so consequently yes I'll probably buy a Ford electric this is a big big change but
one that California is prepared to make and by most accounts will be good for the environment
but there are some challenges that California has to overcome to make this transition the
first is the cost of electric cars the electric cars are still more expensive than gas powered
ones the average price of an electric car in the U.S is 61 488 dollars compared with 49 507 for a
gas car another challenge California faces is the availability of charging stations there are more
than ten thousand gas stations in the U.S while California is working to expand its network of
charging stations there are still some areas where charging stations are scarce and then there's
other types of backlash too there's gonna be a lot of pushback there's all these people arguing
that electric cars are not all that gray they're not really saving the planet what yeah apparently
the batteries aren't like decomposing they don't recycle well see some argue that the production
of electric cars can be harmful to the environment and that the electricity used to charge them can
often come from fossil fuels I don't think we're there yet even with electric cars because they're
still using fossil fuels at the end of the day is there any truth to these arguments well yes and
no it is true that the production of electric cars can have some environmental impacts for
example batteries used in electric cars will they contain rare earth metals which can be mined in
a way that is harmful to the environment but the environmental impact of electric cars is
still much lower than the environmental impact of gasoline-powered cars electric cars produce zero
emissions which means that they don't contribute to air pollution or climate change the electricity
used to charge electric cars can come from fossil fuels but it doesn't have to I mean if you live in
an area with a lot of renewable energy like solar or wind power then you can charge your electric
car with clean energy so are electric cars really all that great well yes they are they're better
for the environment they're more efficient and they're even quieter than gasoline powered cars
if you're looking for a car that is good for the environment and good for your wallet then an
electric car is a good option and here are some of the pros and cons the pros are zero emissions more
efficient than gasoline-powered cars wider than gas powered cars and fewer moving parts so they're
less likely to break down the cons are this the production of EVS can have some environmental
impacts the electricity used to charge electric cars well they can come from fossil fuels electric
cars have a shorter range than gasoline-powered cars which causes range anxiety and electric cars
are more expensive as I mentioned it's kind of like weirdly controversial you have a lot
of people who say just like long term it's going to be worse for the environment but I still think
they're pretty sick if I had enough money I'll definitely drive an auv while EV cars are more
expensive than gas cars the US offers a federal EV tax credit and it's available to us residents who
purchase release eligible new EVS the credit is worth up to 7 500 and it's gradually phased out
as more electric vehicles are sold Tesla vehicles are eligible for the federal EV tax credit you
must meet certain requirements to qualify and that means you have to be a U.S resident and
have an income below a certain threshold you can claim the federal EV tax credit when you file for
your federal income tax but in California you can save thousands of dollars more because of
What's called the California clean vehicle rebate project this offers rebates for the purchase or
lease of new EVS it's easy to see why people are switching to EVS faster here in this state see
California has the highest gas tax in the country it's almost 10 cents higher than the national
average and it's so high because California has a lot of roads to maintain the state has a long
coastline a lot of mountainous terrain which means that it needs to invest heavily in road
infrastructure also California is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the gas tax
ironically helps fund the state's Transportation infrastructure which also includes project
that promote cleaner Transportation options like public transit and EVs and California has a strong
environmental movement many Californians believe that the gas tax is a way to hold polluters
accountable and to invest in a cleaner future but what would happen to the tax revenue if we stopped
buying gas in the future it might be possible that EV owners in California are taxed based on
the miles that they drive see the California state legislature is currently considering a bill that
would create a mileage-based user fee this would replace the state's gas tax which is currently
the primary source of funding for transportation infrastructure this is a controversial proposal
though see some people argue that it is fair and Equitable but others say it's unfair to electric
vehicle owners who are already paying for their electricity even though they're not paying for
gas the bill is still in its early stages though so it's not clear whether it will be passed into
law so how would it work well EV owners would be able to track their mileage using a device
that would be installed in their car this device would transmit the mileage data to the state and
the state would then Bill you the driver based on the number of miles driven and it would be
calculated on a per mile basis the rate would be set by the state legislature this is a way
to fund Transportation infrastructure that's fair to all drivers regardless of whether you're
driving a gas car or an EV but this would also increase the cost of driving for Ev owners and
remember that could discourage people from buying them which is the plan to begin with if this is
actually passed it's likely that this would be implemented gradually so electric vehicle
owners will have some time to adjust to the new system at the end of the day most people will
make decisions not based on the climate but based on their wallet and whatever is most financially
beneficial is what the mass majority of people will do so will California really ban gas cars
for good in just a decade I do think that it's a better option especially when we're dealing with
all these gas prices and everything if you're somebody who's like Trump a lot and maybe gas
is the way to go but if you're somebody who's like in the city then electric might be the best option
for you and what does the future of energy look like here in the US I put solar around my house
and it has saved me tremendous amounts of money my electric bill before was anywhere from 400 to 500
a month and now I get a bill for eighteen twenty dollars sometimes really expensive at 45 or 50.