California Budget Approves Historic Clean Transportation Investments
Originally published on NRDC Expert Blog.
By Miles Muller, Attorney, Climate & Clean Energy Program
State legislators and Governor Newsom just signed a historic California budget that includes unprecedented levels of investment in clean transportation. The new funding will provide significant support for critical zero-emission vehicle and infrastructure programs, unlocking billions in public health, climate, and jobs benefits for all Californians.
This budget comes as the result of months of significant advocacy by a coalition of more than fifty climate, equity, health, and labor organizations to expand investments in California’s most effective programs for clean air, improved health, environmental justice, and a stable climate. The final budget includes more than $3.5 billion for zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure, including:
- $1.4 billion for electrifying medium- and heavy-duty vehicles on California roads to clean the air, including 3,000 zero-emission drayage trucks, school buses, and transit buses;
- $415 million to deploy the necessary charging infrastructure for those medium- and heavy-duty vehicles;
- $400 million for equity-focused transportation projects like Clean Cars 4 All, which enables low-income Californians to scrap their old car and replace it with a new or used option that is less polluting and more efficient;
- $500 million for the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Clean Transportation Program deploying charging infrastructure for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles;
- $525 million for consumer rebates for new ZEV purchases through the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project; and
- $250 million for zero-emission manufacturing.
This money is on top of the budget’s $5.4 billion Transportation Infrastructure Plan, which includes $500 million for active transportation in addition to funding for improving the state’s streets, roads, and rails.
Securing an Equitable Clean Transportation Future in CA
Moving forward, the Legislature needs to strengthen the state’s commitment to equity to ensure all Californians have access to clean transportation. Fortunately, the Legislature has an opportunity to do exactly that with two policy bills this year — SB 726 (L. Gonzalez) and AB 1389 (Reyes) — that would codify equity requirements for the CEC’s Clean Transportation Program and require that 50% of those investments go towards the primary benefit of people residing in low-income and disadvantaged communities. The Legislature should advance these bills to ensure even greater investment in California’s equitable clean transportation future.
Thanks in large part to the Charge Ahead California Initiative — established by Senate Bill 1275 in 2014, making it state policy to electrify the transportation sector in a manner that ensures all Californians are able to realize the benefits electric vehicles can provide — California already has a rich portfolio of well-utilized equity-focused programs designed to increase access to zero-emission vehicles and mobility in disadvantaged and low-income communities. These programs are complemented by critical zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicle programs that displace toxic diesel emissions that disproportionately impact low-income and disadvantaged communities that often live near freeways, ports, railyards, warehouses and other facilities.
These programs have done a lot to accelerate electric vehicle adoption in the state, especially in low-income and underserved communities, but there’s still a ways to go to meet the state’s long-term climate, equity, and air quality goals. According to a recent CEC report, the state is currently falling behind on its goal of deploying the 250,000 public and shared charging stations needed to support estimated EV adoption in 2025, and faces a gap of roughly one million chargers from what will be needed to support its 2035 goals. The report concludes that significant and continued state, local, utility, and private funding will be necessary to meet these goals.
California Energy Commission, Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Assessment
The 2021–2022 budget will go a long way in putting the state on a path to achieving its goals, but more still needs to be done going forward to fund critical equity programs and help underserved communities realize the benefits of clean mobility. While advocates had been pushing for $500 million in guaranteed funding for these critical transportation equity programs, only $150 million of the budget’s $400 million package is guaranteed, and the rest will have to be authorized by the Legislature in future years.
Electric motorcycles are already known for their instant torque and quiet performance, but now one electric dirt bike has proven it can do something gas bikes can’t: breathe where combustion engines can’t. Stark Future and Swiss mountaineer-rider Jiri Zak just made history by setting a new high-altitude world record on the world’s highest active volcano, riding a fully electric Stark VARG EX up to an astonishing 6,721 meters (22,051 feet) above sea level.
The record-setting ride took place on Los Ojos del Salado, a massive stratovolcano straddling the Chile–Argentina border in the Atacama Desert. It’s the tallest active volcano in the world and one of the most brutal environments on Earth to test the limits of man and machine. Sub-zero temperatures, violent weather, thin air, and volcanic terrain have made it the proving ground for record-breaking attempts by companies like Porsche, Yamaha, and Jeep since the early 2000s.
But this time, it wasn’t a combustion engine motorcycle powering the ascent, but rather a battery-powered motorcycle.
Stark’s electric VARG EX conquers the thin air
Riding at nearly 7,000 meters means serious altitude sickness risks for humans – and serious performance losses for gas engines. But that’s exactly where the Stark VARG EX shines. Without relying on air-fuel combustion, the VARG EX can deliver full torque even in oxygen-starved conditions. It also simplifies high-altitude riding by eliminating gear shifting, relying instead on electric driveline efficiency and seamless power delivery.
Jiri Zak, the expedition’s lead rider and a seasoned alpinist, put it best. “Two years ago this was just a dream – do it on an electric bike, where combustion loses its breath. Ojos is unforgiving; one mistake can cost your life. That’s why I’m here with a team I trust and a motorcycle that keeps delivering power in thin air.”
Zak’s attempt was logged on November 30, 2025, with GPS units that were sealed in advance to ensure authenticity. The full data is now undergoing third-party verification, with Guinness World Records authentication in process.
Stark and Zak aimed to push a motorcycle – regardless of the powertrain, electric or gas – higher than ever before. And they did.
The previous high-altitude motorcycling records involved heavily modified combustion bikes operating at the ragged edge of their capability. But the Stark VARG EX performed the feat right out of the box, with no major mechanical changes. That’s a serious milestone for electric mobility.
“This was never about a standalone number,” said Stark Future CEO Anton Wass. “It’s about proving that electric is not a compromise; it takes you further than any other combustion bike could. The VARG platform can operate at the edge of the atmosphere.”
Built for the extremes
To make the record possible, Stark assembled a team of logistics experts, mountain safety personnel, and videographers to document the expedition. The crew spent multiple days acclimating, scouting line choices, and studying energy management strategies for the high-altitude ride.
Weather windows were tight. Battery thermal regulation was crucial. Traction was unpredictable. Zak even described one of the most intense moments on the mountain, returning from the summit, “The hardest moment was the traverse to Argentina Pass. The balcony was gone. The wind and snow had erased my old track. Nature had taken the path back.”
Even with the challenges, the VARG EX maintained its composure, and its performance, throughout the climb.
A moonshot mentality
With a slogan like “Next stop? The moon!” it’s clear Stark is doing more than just chasing off-road trophies. The company is positioning itself as a symbol of what electric powertrains can accomplish in terrain where gas bikes falter.
Stark Future, founded in 2020 in Barcelona, has rapidly become the most talked-about name in the electric motocross scene. Their flagship VARG model claims to be the most powerful motocross bike ever built, and the EX variant used in this record attempt is the company’s enduro-specific version.
Stark’s vision is about pushing the motorcycle industry toward a more sustainable, electric future. And with this record-setting ride, they’ve just planted an electric flag higher than any motorcycle has ever gone before.
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The US solar industry just delivered another huge quarter, installing 11.7 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity in Q3 2025. That makes it the third-largest quarter on record and pushes total solar additions this year past 30 GW – despite the Trump administration’s efforts to kneecap clean energy.
According to the new “US Solar Market Insight Q4 2025” report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Wood Mackenzie, 85% of all new power added to the grid during the first nine months of the Trump administration came from solar and storage. And here’s the twist: Most of that growth – 73% – happened in red states.
Eight of the top 10 states for new installations fall into that category, including Texas, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, Ohio, Utah, Kentucky, and Arkansas. Utah jumped into the top 10 this quarter thanks to two big utility-scale projects totaling more than 1 GW.
But the report also flags major uncertainty ahead. Federal actions, including a July memo from the Department of the Interior (DOI), have slowed or stalled the approvals pipeline for utility-scale solar and storage. Without clarity on permitting timelines, Wood Mackenzie’s long-term utility-scale forecast through 2030 remains basically unchanged from last quarter.
“This record-setting quarter for solar deployment shows that the market is continuing to turn to solar to meet rising demand,” said Abigail Ross Hopper, SEIA’s president and CEO. She added that strong growth in red states underscores how decisively the market is shifting toward clean energy. “But unless this administration reverses course, the future of clean, affordable, and reliable solar and storage will be frozen by uncertainty, and Americans will continue to see their energy bills go up.”
Two new solar module factories opened this year in Louisiana and South Carolina, adding a combined 4.7 GW of capacity. That brings the total new US module manufacturing capacity added in 2025 to 17.7 GW. With a new wafer facility coming online in Michigan in Q3, the US can now produce every major component of the solar module supply chain.
“We expect 250 GW of solar to be installed from 2025 to 2030,” said Michelle Davis, head of solar research at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the report. “But the US solar industry has more potential. With rising power demand across the country, solar could do even more if current constraints were eased.”
SEIA also noted that, following an analysis of EIA data, it found that more than 73 GW of solar projects across the US are stuck in permitting limbo and at risk of politically motivated delays or cancellations.
Read more: EIA: Solar + storage soar as fossil fuels stall through September 2025
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