By Reagan Steele – Business & Economic Policy Writer

Governor Gavin Newsom launched the MyFirstEV rebate program Friday, offering $3,500 off new electric vehicles priced under $50,000 and $1,750 off used ones under $25,000 for first-time zero-emission vehicle buyers.

While the rebates are sure to excite some shoppers, taxpayer advocates are already questioning the cost, and a brand-new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California shows Newsom’s green-car crusade is running on fumes. Nearly two out of three Californians, 66 percent, oppose the governor’s executive order banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. That opposition has jumped 17 points since 2021.

Cost of living remains the top concern for most Californians. Newsom’s aggressive push for green energy has helped drive utility rates to among the highest in the nation. California residential electricity now sits around 33 cents per kilowatt-hour, roughly double the national average. Gasoline prices routinely top the country as well, with refiners shutting down and producers pointing to Sacramento’s thicket of regulations as the reason.

Newsom and Sacramento Democrats keep insisting electric cars will soon dominate the roads. The sales numbers keep saying otherwise. After the federal EV tax credit disappeared, California’s zero-emission vehicle market share dropped sharply and has struggled to recover, while traditional hybrids have been gaining ground. Official data continues to show most buyers still prefer conventional or hybrid vehicles.

Meanwhile, the people actually buying electric cars remain a narrow slice of the population. The majority of EV purchasers earn six figures and often already own multiple vehicles. For many of them, the electric car is simply a third or fourth car sitting in the driveway.

One local taxpayer advocate put it bluntly: “In effect, this policy is a wealth transfer from the poor to the rich, with working families being forced to subsidize people who can afford $50,000 electric vehicles.”

Photo courtesy of the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom