California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) is a vehicle-emissions program, not an order telling individual drivers to buy an electric car. It sets a future sales mix for manufacturers: California says that by model year 2035, 80% of passenger vehicles sold in the state must be zero-emission, while plug-in hybrids may make up the remaining 20%. The program’s future is contested because the Trump administration and Congress moved to block the federal waivers California says it needs, and a separate 2026 court order reportedly limited a later EPA effort. The available account of that order does not settle the program’s current enforceability.
What California’s clean-car rules require
ACC II covers on-road light- and medium-duty vehicles. The package revises California’s Low Emission Vehicle and Zero Emission Vehicle regulations and applies to model years 2026 through 2035 and beyond. EPA announced its waiver decision on December 18, 2024; the agency’s waiver index lists the decision document as signed December 17 and the Federal Register notice as dated January 6, 2025. EPA’s waiver announcement and waiver index describe the regulatory record.
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The 2035 target is a sales mix, not a personal purchase order
California’s Attorney General describes the model-year 2035 requirement as 80% zero-emission passenger vehicles and up to 20% plug-in hybrids among passenger vehicles sold in California. That is a manufacturer sales-mix rule. It does not require a driver to replace an existing gasoline car or compel any particular person to buy a new vehicle. The 80% and 20% figures are California’s 2025 summary of the program, not a count of vehicles already sold under the rule. California Attorney General’s 2025 release
Why California calls the program important
EPA’s 2024 announcement said California projected that the package would reduce smog- and soot-forming pollutants as well as greenhouse gases. Those are projected benefits attributed to California, not independently established outcomes in EPA’s announcement. The policy’s importance, in California’s account, lies in using vehicle standards to pursue those emissions reductions; the question of whether the state can continue implementing the rules is a separate legal one.
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What the Trump administration and Congress did in 2025
In June 2025, President Trump signed congressional resolutions targeting waiver notices for ACC II, Advanced Clean Trucks, and the Omnibus Low NOx regulation. In his signing statement, Trump said the programs were preempted by the Clean Air Act and “cannot be implemented,” and described them as a nationwide EV mandate. That is the administration’s legal and political position, not a court ruling. White House signing statement
California challenged the disapproval actions. Its Attorney General argued that Clean Air Act waiver decisions are not “rules” subject to Congressional Review Act disapproval and that the federal actions violated federal law. Those are California’s arguments in litigation; the sources cited here do not establish a final merits decision resolving that challenge. California Attorney General’s 2025 release
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The dispute turns on both legal process and practical effect
| Question | Administration’s position | California’s position |
|---|---|---|
| Could Congress disapprove the waivers? | The 2025 signing statement treats the resolutions as effective and the programs as preempted. White House | California argues that waiver decisions are not CRA rules that Congress can disapprove. California Attorney General |
| Who is directly regulated? | The White House frames the effect as a nationwide EV mandate that restricts consumer choice. White House | California describes ACC II’s 2035 requirement as a sales mix for passenger vehicles sold in the state. California Attorney General |
The contrast matters: “EV mandate” compresses a manufacturer-facing sales standard into language that can sound like a direct purchase command to consumers. California’s description does not resolve the federal preemption dispute, but it explains what the 2035 rule actually measures.
What the reported 2026 court order changes—and what it does not establish
California’s Attorney General reports that EPA later tried to reclassify waiver orders as rules and send them to Congress. According to the Attorney General’s 2026 update, a district court issued a preliminary injunction ordering EPA to withdraw or correct those reclassifications and not give them effect. The update quotes the court as saying the approach “may seem like a clever policy move, but undermines honest compliance with the law, which is what Americans should expect from executive branch agencies.” California Attorney General’s 2026 update
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This reported injunction concerns EPA’s later reclassification effort. It should not be treated as automatically undoing the distinct 2025 congressional resolutions. The update is a litigating party’s summary; it does not by itself establish the full scope of the order, whether an appeal or stay followed, or the final status of ACC II.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What drivers and car buyers can take from the dispute
The underlying distinction is straightforward: ACC II describes a future mix of vehicles manufacturers may sell in California, while the 2025 federal action and the later 2026 injunction concern whether California can rely on its waivers. Neither the White House’s description of a consumer mandate nor California’s account of its manufacturer sales rule is a final judicial resolution of the current legal dispute. The available sources support describing the program’s requirements and the competing positions, but not declaring the waiver fully restored or conclusively unavailable.
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California’s Attorney General also reported in 2025 that more than 2 million zero-emission passenger cars had been sold in the state and that clean vehicles made up 26% of new-car sales. Those are figures reported by the state’s Department of Justice; the release does not make them a current sales share or an independently verified measure of ACC II’s effects. California Attorney General’s 2025 release
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