July 30, 2021—On Monday Minnesota became the first state in the Midwest to implement "Clean Car" rules in an effort to encourage drivers to start switching to EVs.
According to a report from the Pioneer Press, Gov. Tim Walz visited two EV charger manufacturers to promote the state's new rules, which will require OEMs and dealers to supply more EVs once the rules take effect in 2024 for the 2025 model year.
Fourteen other states have implemented similar rules, and Minnesota based its guidelines on the current standards in California.
“In the 14 other states, the sky did not fall,” Walz said during a press conference following his visit. “The car industry did not collapse. Jobs were not lost. In fact, just the opposite happened in all 14 other states.”
Walz implemented the rules through executive order, which angered Republican lawmakers in the state legislature.
“It puts California bureaucrats in charge of our industry here in Minnesota,” Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Automobile Dealers Association, said in an interview. “The state has no ability to modify or amend these rules.”
