The Advanced Clean Cars II rule, first implemented in California in 2022 under a provision of the Clean Air Act, allows states to impose stricter car standards than their federal counterparts. The standards are not retroactive to existing cars or to used car sales.
Maryland joins California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington in making the move. Maryland residents will still be able to buy and sell used gas-powered cars or buy new gas-powered cars in other states and title them in Maryland.Toyota Motor chief Akio Toyoda“People involved in the auto industry are largely a silent majority,” Toyoda said. “That silent majority is wondering whether EVs are really OK to have as a single option. But they think it’s the trend so they can’t speak out loudly.
All the reasons that Toyoda expresses are still valid. Lithium supplies remain a concern, even for proposed “solid state” batteries that may eventually work better than the lithium ionAlthough the internal constituents of batteries vary based on construction, lithium is a key factor in most. Globally, lithium prices have tripled in the past year alone, and that’s despite global lithium production tripling in just the past five years. There is, quite simply, a global shortage of the stuff.