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 Governor Murphy last year, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.

While those polled say they 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.

According to the poll, residents are slightly more likely to oppose than support the Advanced Clean Car II (ACCII) program, with a plurality in the strong opposition camp: 19% said they strongly support it, 24% somewhat support it, 15% are somewhat opposed, and 35% strongly oppose it.

Despite opposition, majorities of New Jerseyans anticipate the policy will have a positive impact on the state’s air quality (58%) and residents’ health (51%). About a quarter say it will have no impact either way for each (22% and 26%, respectively).

“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.”

Demographics play a significant role in how New Jerseyans feel about the issue, the poll found.

Support for the mandate is strongest among Democrats (68%) and reaches a majority for groups who historically lean Democratic, such as Black residents (53%); residents who are multiracial or of backgrounds other than white, Black, or Hispanic (57%); those age 18 to 34 years old (53%); urbanites (55%); and those who have done graduate work (56%).

Republicans are the least likely of any group to support the mandate (15%) and the most likely – by far – to oppose it (80%).