Maryland lawmakers are looking to bring back an incentive to get people to buy electric vehicles.
Through last September, Maryland drivers of plug-in electric vehicles could use high-occupancy vehicle lanes, commonly known as HOV lanes, regardless of whether they had passengers or not, provided they had the necessary permit.
The House of Delegates gave initial approval Wednesday to bringing that program back.
“So this is an incentive for people to buy electric cars because they are better for the environment,” Montgomery County Democratic Del. Sara Love explained to her colleagues. “This is a program that we had, and we’re just bringing it back.”
A final House vote could come later this week before the measure moves to the Senate.
The bill would allow the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration to charge a fee of up to $20 for the permit, while extending the program through September 30, 2035. That date is significant, as it’s the year the state of California set to have all new cars and light trucks sold in the state be 100 percent electric.
California has an outsized impact on environmental laws across the U.S., and fellow blue states like Maryland could start to follow California in the same direction and timeline when it comes to electric vehicles.