Bay Area EV drivers no longer allowed to drive alone in carpool lane

By John Ramos

On Monday, the ability of solo EV drivers in the Bay Area to ride in the carpool came to an end. The State’s “Clean Air Vehicle Decal Program” ended at the beginning of October, but the CHP gave a 60-day grace period to allow drivers to get used to the idea, and tickets would now be issued to violators.

“This was something that, under federal law, this program did end,” said CHP officer Adib Zeid. “So, our role is not to capitalize on that. It’s merely just to enforce the existing HOV laws.”

Zeid said the CHP is not planning any targeted enforcement efforts now that the stickers have become invalid. But they say they will be ticketing solo EV drivers in the carpool lane, just like any other vehicle, with a fine of $490. The Trump administration officially ended the program, as well as the federal tax credit for EV buyers, but the State of California was already winding the sticker program down anyway.  

But when it first started in 2014, it was considered a huge incentive to jumpstart the fledgling electric car industry.

“If you go back over 10 years ago when it was launched, it got a lot of attention,” said Loren McDonald, CEO of an industry research group called Chargeonomics. “And in those days, EVs were sort of this new thing, right?  And people needed a reason, lots of reasons, to buy EVs. And as a benefit, the HOV access was kind of a big deal. it helped put a lot of people over the top, especially if they commuted in a bad commute on a daily basis.”

McDonald said early EVs, with a range of less than 100 miles, were considered an expensive luxury. But he said as time passed the range and quality of the vehicles increased, and the price dropped to the point that driving in the carpool lane was no longer a necessary incentive.

“The reasons for buying or not buying an EV today has very little to do with being able to drive in the occupancy lane by yourself,” he said.

But that’s how it all started for John Stringer. The founder of the group Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley said the sticker on the bumper was a huge deal back in 2018.

“It’s a huge bummer at the end of the day, right?” he said, about the program ending. “One of the biggest reasons for buying an electric vehicle has always been you get access to the carpool lane. Pre-COVID and even post-COVID now, traffic is just horrible. It’s actually worse now. And one of the biggest reasons why I bought my first Tesla, about seven years ago, was because of the carpool lane, to be able to literally shave off 20 minutes each way to work.”

Stringer bought his new Cybertruck, his fourth Tesla, in 2024, knowing that its HOV privileges wouldn’t last long. But not every EV owner qualified anyway, with the State limiting the number and duration of decals that could be on the road. So, having the sticker became a status symbol for some and an irritant to others.

“I imagine the other drivers get pissed off that they’re in traffic and you have somebody, because of their car, they don’t have to be in the same situation as them,” said Armando Diaz as he sat in his vehicle at a San Jose charging station. 

Diaz may be a rare breed. He bought his Tesla for the technology, but never applied for a sticker because he didn’t feel right about his ability to gain a carpool advantage over others.

“I’ve never felt the need to assert my use of the carpool lane,” he said. “If I have a passenger in my car, I will drive the carpool. Other than that, I’m just normally driving on the streets, same as everybody else.”