Lamont Administration Will No Longer Pursue EV Mandate For Connecticut

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont told reporters Tuesday that he will no longer pursue an electric vehicle sales mandate in Connecticut.

It has been nearly a year since Lamont withdrew regulations that would have seen Connecticut jump on the combustion engine sales ban-wagon. Since then, Lamont and Connecticut State Democrat leadership have not advanced any legislation that would boost the business of EVs in the state.

"Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, (is) a strong believer that EVs are a big part of our energy future, so there'll be a discussion," Lamont predicted Tuesday. "I doubt it's mandates, but I think there may still be some incentives."

Asked by News12 Connecticut's John Craven whether pushing mandates was "off the table" for his administration, the governor said, "We were pursuing the federal standards, and I think the federal standards are no more."

This week, President-elect Donald Trump selected former Republican congressman Lee Zeldin, a vocal opponent of EV mandates, to run the Environmental Protection Agency in his next administration.

Connecticut State Republican leadership called Lamont's admission a "victory for Connecticut taxpayers," but cautioned their constituents to remain wary.

"The EV mandate idea will no doubt be brought up again by Democrats in the state legislature," the Senate Republican Caucus said in a statement. "Republicans support efforts to protect the environment and to make the air cleaner, but the multiple question marks and contradictions surrounding the EV mandate’s achievability, affordability, and budgetary impact remain serious concerns."

In an informal poll earlier this year, Connecticut Patch readers weighed in on the topic and were decidedly against any initiative that might make EVs less available.