Half of New Jersey residents do not support plans to phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles completely by 2035, as announced by Gov. Phil Murphy last November, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll. While those polled in December see the policy’s environmental and health benefits, they are concerned about the costs on both a state and personal level – and more than half say they would not be likely to buy an electric vehicle.
“Even as a dozen or so states across the country adopt the same regulations, New Jerseyans are divided on the matter of electric vehicles and the impact they will have,” said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “It is an issue that is heavily influenced not only by partisanship but also by a hesitancy that likely stems from a widespread lack of information about the vehicles themselves and what the policy entails – not to mention the financial implications and the notable change this would cause in people’s everyday lives.” To read the full story.