As a heatwave reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit, Californians are advised not to charge their electric vehicles during certain hours.
The decision comes just weeks after the California Air Resources Board voted to ban gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
The California Independent System Operator (ISO) has urged residents throughout the state to ‘reduce’ energy usage between 4 and 9pm ‘when the system is the most stressed because demand for electricity remains high.’
Residents are asked not to charge their electric vehicles between those hours beginning Wednesday and ending Tuesday, to set their thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, to avoid using large appliances, and to turn off unnecessary lights.
‘Lowering electricity use during that time will ease [the] strain on the system, and prevent more drastic measures, including rotating power outages,’ the bulletin said.
California has officially become the first in the world to enforce a ban on the sale of new gasoline cars by 2035.
Automobile manufacturers must now reduce the number of gas-guzzling vehicles they sell in order to meet the first quota of the plan, which requires that 35 percent of new cars, SUVs, and small pickups sold in California by 2026 be zero-emission vehicles.
The quota increases every two years, with 51 percent by 2028, 68 percent by 2030, and 100 percent of all new vehicles sold five years later – 20 percent of which can be hybrid plug-in hybrids.
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