Democrats declare war on RVs: Six blue states want to ban them
New regulations on heavy-duty vehicles also affect RVs, which more than 3 million Americans use as their regular homes.
Motorhomes parked in Europe.
Six states with Democratic leadership plan to follow California's lead by banning RV sales starting in 2025. The focus of the ban is on diesel-powered recreational vehicles, which serve as homes on wheels for over three million Americans.
The website RV Travel claims that the states of Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington have taken steps to ban sales if these vehicles do not meet certain emissions requirements based on new environmental regulations.
These measures are based on California's initiative from October, when the California Air Resources Board (CARB) revised its Advanced Clean Truck (ACT) regulations. The updated rules aim to promote zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and mandate that all vehicles over 8,500 pounds meet zero-emission standards.
According to RV Travel, this regulation will require manufacturers of heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks and motorhomes, to increase their sales of zero-emission vehicles. As a result, they will gradually halt the production and supply of new internal combustion engine models.
While it was initially expected that regulations like California's would not apply to recreational vehicles, this has proven to be untrue. As a result, RVs and vans designed for livability are also affected by these measures.
According to data from Axios, more than 11.3 million U.S. households own an RV. More than three million Americans live in them long-term.
According to some estimates, the number of people living in RVs and vans continues to grow each year, following a sharp decline at the end of the last century. This increase is driven by new lifestyles embraced by Millennials and Gen Z, as well as the rising cost of housing.
Second-hand RVs would be the only alternative available, as used mobile homes are exempt from the new regulations. States like California, Washington, and New York, which have large homeless populations, often see people living in older, rundown RVs.
According to the RVIA fact sheet, "CARB said a used vehicle, defined as one with more than 7,500 miles on the odometer, could be brought in and registered. Any motorhome with less than 7,500 miles would be considered a new vehicle and would have to be compliant in order to be registered."
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