SACRAMENTO — The California Energy Commission (CEC) unanimously voted on Monday to approve new “efficiency standards” for replacement tires for vehicles, according to reporting by Ashley Zavala at KCRA. The new regulation is the first of its kind in the nation.
The new regulation will limit which tire models can be sold in the state beginning in 2029 in an effort to cut fuel and electricity costs for drivers while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The unanimous commission vote creates a two-phase rolling-resistance requirement for passenger and light-truck replacement tires. Commission staff say the rules will ensure aftermarket tires perform at least as efficiently, on average, as those that come on new vehicles, potentially saving Californians nearly $1 billion a year and cutting emissions by the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of cars.
“This ultimately is about protecting consumers,” David Hochschild, the chairman of the California Energy Commission, told KCRA. “I see this as sheltering the public from higher costs in the long run.”
“These regulations are a tool within our authority that can save money for every Californian,” Commissioner Nancy Skinner added.
But not everyone is happy with the new regulation.
Tire manufacturers, including Goodyear, counter that the standards could eliminate the majority of currently available models by 2033 and drive up costs far more than the state estimates.
Goodyear representative Bret Gladfelty testified before the commission and said the new rule would drive up costs for consumers.
“Gladfelty told KCRA 3 this new rule will eliminate an estimated 70% of the tires currently sold in California by 2033, which the California Energy Commission has also acknowledged and has not denied,” KCRA reported. “Other tire manufacturers such as Bridgestone and Michelin were concerned about how exactly the CEC would enforce the rules that could create an uneven playing field that could negatively impact the larger manufacturers.”
Other Californians piled on the complaints on X.
“Add tires to the list of products for my out-of-state purchases,” wrote Jeff Vaughn, an anchor for onLACA.
“This is unbelievable. They will stop at nothing to hurt the people of this state. Most people already have to save or use a credit card to get tires and now they’re going to limit our options. If voters don’t get these people out of office they are going to wipe this state out. We’re so close to that point. So many Californians are just barely hanging on,” one user replied.
“If these tires truly saved that much money, wouldn’t the consumer already be purchasing them like hotcakes?” asked another user named Rachael.
The CEC has never regulated tires before, and California is now the first state with such rules.
The new regulation is called the Replacement Tire Efficiency Program.
What is rolling resistance?
Rolling resistance is the energy a tire loses to friction and heat as it flexes and rolls along the road; the lower that resistance, the less power the vehicle needs to keep moving, which translates directly into better gasoline mileage or greater electric-vehicle range.
New cars and light trucks typically leave the factory with relatively efficient, low-rolling-resistance tires chosen to help meet fuel-economy and emissions standards, but many replacement tires sold afterward have higher resistance and therefore reduce efficiency. This is exactly the gap California’s new rules aim to close by requiring aftermarket tires to match, on average, the performance of original-equipment models.
Where did this regulation come from?
The new tire efficiency standards trace their legal roots to Assembly Bill 844, a 2003 measure that directed the California Energy Commission to develop a statewide program ensuring replacement tires sold in the state are at least as energy-efficient, on average, as the original-equipment tires fitted on new passenger cars and light-duty trucks. Despite the clear legislative mandate, the requirement went largely unaddressed for more than two decades.
CEC Chair David Hochschild acknowledged that he was unaware the statute even existed until fellow Commissioner Nancy Skinner, a former state senator and environmental advocate appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, brought it to the commission’s attention, prompting the agency to finally move forward with the rulemaking that culminated in Monday’s unanimous vote.
Testing and development process
California Energy Commission staff developed the new rolling-resistance standards after doing laboratory testing of 537 different tire models commonly sold as replacements for passenger cars and light-duty trucks. The extensive testing provided the data used to set the maximum resistance levels that will phase in during 2029 and 2033, with the explicit goal of ensuring aftermarket tires perform at least as efficiently, on average, as the original-equipment tires that come on new vehicles.
The proposal underwent multiple rounds of revision in response to comments from tire manufacturers, retailers, environmental groups, and other stakeholders. Industry feedback led to adjustments in timelines, product categories, and a series of exemptions for specialty tires such as competition, certain winter, and limited-production models.
Once the rules take effect, enforcement will center on mandatory reporting by manufacturers and brand owners, a publicly accessible CEC database of certified tire information, and independent laboratory verification to confirm that tires offered for sale in California meet both the rolling-resistance limits and a minimum wet-grip safety standard.
Exemptions and carve-outs
Although California’s new rolling-resistance standards will restrict a large share of conventional replacement tires, the regulations include a series of exemptions designed to preserve access to specialized products.
Categories that remain available without meeting the efficiency limits include competition and motorsports tires, certain winter and all-season winter-performance tires, used and retreaded tires, deep-tread and off-road tires (including those for ATVs and other specialty vehicles), motorcycle tires, temporary and space-saver spare tires, and limited-production models manufactured or imported in quantities below 15,000 per year.
Additional carve-outs cover high-load-index tires, emergency-vehicle tires, and tires not designed to sustain speeds above 50 mph, as well as very small tires with rim diameters of 13 inches or less. Commission staff said the exemptions were refined after extensive industry and stakeholder input to avoid unintended impacts on niche markets while still advancing the core goal of improving the average efficiency of everyday passenger-car and light-truck replacement tires.
You can watch the entire KCRA news segment here in Ashley Zavala’s X feed: https://x.com/ZavalaA/status/2089532811405677000.
