While some US states are actively trying to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles, with California and New York already targeting a ban by 2035, several Wyoming lawmakers have proposed banning the sale of electric vehicles instead.
Bill SJ0004, introduced on January 13, aims to phase out sales of new electric vehicles in Wyoming by 2035, citing the importance of the oil and natural gas industry to the state, as well as the current lack of adequate charging infrastructure and the cost of building it and unfitness of electric vehicles on the state’s long stretches of freeway.
The bill also describes the proliferation of electric vehicles at the expense of gas-powered vehicles as having a negative impact on both the Wyoming and US economies
It is sponsored by Senators Jim Anderson, Brian Boner, Ed Cooper and Dan Dockstader, and Representatives Donal Burkhart, Jr. and Bill Henderson.
Should the bill go into effect, there will not necessarily be a ban on the sale of EVs in Wyoming, as one of the clauses states that the legislature would only encourage and express the ban as a goal. This suggests the bill is more of a political stunt than a serious attempt to ban EV sales in the state. There is even a clause that if passed, the bill would have to be sent to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Governor of California.
Even if Wyoming were to ban the sale of electric vehicles, new vehicles without electrification could be hard to come by in the decades that followed. The entire EU is committed to banning the sale of light-duty internal combustion engine vehicles, including hybrids, by 2035. Many automakers, including GM, are also aiming to phase out internal combustion engines in light vehicles by the same 2035 deadline.