Gov. Phil Murphy has decided to slam electric vehicle drivers with a painful parlay, tagging them with a $1,000 registration fee while phasing out its popular sales tax exemption in the next three years. Given that he has also mandated that New Jersey new vehicle sales must be 100% electric by 2035, this is a message that baffles consumers, environmentalists, and car dealers alike.
The drive to get New Jerseyans out of gas-fueled cars and into EVs is already less than robust. Only 11% of the new cars registered in our state were electrics last year, so removing incentives is inviting failure. If Murphy believes he can reach the next plateau on his mandate – 43% of all 2027 models sold must be electric – he needs to re-check his math, because NJ drivers are still spooked by EV issues such as range anxiety and sticker shock.
But there is a way to expedite this transition, with a technology that eliminates the worry and still delivers huge climate benefits: This alternative path to electrification is the plug-in hybrid – a gas vehicle fitted with an electric motor that can handle a 40-mile commute with an overnight charge from a standard household outlet – and if the governor has a genuine interest in reaching his climate goals, this should be his ticket.
Plug-in hybrids (or PHEVs) are less expensive than standard EVs, they don’t rely on a charging network that is still sparse in our state, they use a fraction of the rare earth minerals it takes to produce an EV, and they provide 80% of the emission reductions of a full EV. Whereas a regular hybrid only goes a few miles at low speed before the gas engine snaps on, a plug-in hybrid -- which has a much larger battery – typically takes you to work and back before you need to rely on gas.
A Toyota RAV4 plug-in hybrid, for example, has a gas range of 500 miles. But you may never use a drop, because it also has a range of 42 miles on its electric motor, which is more than most people drive each day. If you remember to plug it in each night, you may never buy gas again. It could be a perfect option for people who are EV-curious but aren’t ready to buy one.
Yet it’s hard to find a single instance in which Murphy has promoted the technology, even though plug-ins were a major component to the EPA’s new rules to limit tailpipe emissions Wednesday. Though New Jersey isn’t governed by those federal regulations – we follow the much more prescriptive California Air Resources Board rules – there is no reason why Gov. Murphy can’t take this cue from the Biden Administration.
He can start by offering greater incentives for NJ consumers to buy plug-in vehicles -- such as a sales tax exemption \-- because the only one that exists is federal.
“Plug-ins would get us further in reaching our climate goals – with less consumer resistance,” said Jim Appleton, president of the NJ Coalition of Automotive Retailers, who represents 500 dealerships in our state. “Our dealers hear it all the time: People are afraid of range limits of battery-electric vehicles, and they’re more comfortable with having the gas backup.
“And the consumer who buys plug-ins find that they drive most of the time in zero-emission (electric) mode.”
So why aren’t more plug-ins being sold? It depends on the manufacturer who stocks individual dealers. Toyota, the largest carmaker in the world, has emphasized plug-ins over EVs for years, and the results are compelling.
In the 4th quarter of 2023, Toyota North America sold 619,661 vehicles, and 16,657 were some form of electric – a 58% spike, year-over-year. Of that electric group, twice as many plug-in hybrids (10,939) were sold than regular electrics (5,718).
In New Jersey, however, only 2.7% of new car sales in 2023 and the first two months of 2024 were plug-ins, even though there are 41 different PHEV models in a broad price range available at NJ dealerships. Volvo alone offers five.
And while EV advocates such as ChargeVC believe that plug-in hybrids are “transitional at best,” a prominent state environmentalist, Dave Pringle, is pondering a plug-in hybrid for his impending purchase because “plug-ins must be part of the transition.”
He adds that it will only be more difficult without bolder action, because “Murphy is moving in the exact opposite direction, which is ‘To heck with it all,’” Pringle said. “He’s mandating all-electric vehicles for 2035, yet eliminating the incentives that get us to where he wants us to go. He’s talking out of both sides of his mouth, as politicians do. Does he want electric vehicles or not?”
The administration would not say whether the governor is tempted to follow Biden’s example on plug-in hybrids; a spokeswoman only noted that “New Jersey has been a leader on vehicle emissions for nearly 20 years.”
It’s not the last 20 years New Jersey should celebrate, however. The next 12 will determine whether the planet remains inhabitable, and last anyone checked, the calendar is charged with foreboding.
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