Exploring public support and opposition to 100% zero emission vehicle policy

The degree to which the public supports or opposes climate and clean transportation policies can impact the success of these policies. Here, we focus on understanding the level of public support for California’s 100 % zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales regulations, as well as the reasons for that support. Until now, little research has been conducted to identify why the public supports California’s 100 % ZEV sales policy, or any ZEV sales policy. Even less is known about why people may oppose the regulation, or why they are neutral (i.e., neither supporting nor opposing). The aim of this study is to address these research gaps using data from a survey distributed to 2,554 Californian households. Content analysis (n = 1,698) was supplemented with ordinal logistic regression (n = 1,318) to better understand factors related to policy support. The results show that despite only 8 % of survey respondents owning a ZEV, more respondents support the regulation than oppose it. Overall, 46 % support the regulation, 37 % oppose it, and 17 % neither support nor oppose it. While more respondents support the regulation, we find diverse reasons for opposition, including monetary issues (e.g. related to vehicles, charging, and maintenance) and non-monetary costs (e.g. range, charging time), perceptions that ZEVs have negative environmental impacts, and concerns about governmental overreach and the restriction of consumer choices. Support for the regulation relates to sustainability issues, including related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution, and reducing oil dependency. Providing information and education, improvements to ZEV technology (including issues on monetary and non-monetary costs), and investments in charging infrastructure and the electricity grid may overcome some of the public’s opposition towards the policy.