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Reports Renner: "By the time today’s infants are in their early 30s, gasoline-powered cars that aren’t hybrids could be a rarity in California. That’s the goal of California policy makers who are doing their best to phase those cars out by 2050 and replace them with zero-emissions vehicles like electric cars, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles."Toward that end, Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order in January calling for 5 million zero-emissions vehicles on the road by 2030 – a giant increase from the 350,000 on the road today. He also proposed a $2.5 billion initiative that will bring 250,000 vehicle charging stations and 200 hydrogen fueling stations to the state by 2025...She highlights a new Next 10 report produced by Beacon Economics that California shows is on track to meet Brown’s goals. "In about 20 years, (Next 10 founder F. Noel) Perry believes zero-emissions vehicles could be as common as smart phones are today." The report covers leading countries like China, France, the United Kingdom, India and Norway, that have already announced plans to phase out gasoline and diesel cars. Also noted are top challenges like the limited number of charging stations, cost, range, charging time and options in the showroom.But the performance of the cars is steadily improving. “The models that are coming out today, the marquis one being the Chevy Bolt are more moderately priced vehicles in the $30,000 range with the ability to travel over 200 miles a charge,” said Matt Stanberry, vice president of market development for Advanced Energy Economy, an organization of businesses working to make energy secure, clean and affordable. “That is one of the things consumers have been looking for.”California sweetens the pot by providing incentives of $1,500 and $2,500 to those who buy most electric cars and $5,000 to those who buy a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The federal government also offers a tax credit of up to $7,500.Stanberry said California should offer an even higher incentive to increase more purchases. “The prices of vehicles are coming down rapidly but for the next 5-10 years, upfront costs are higher than for an internal combustion engine,” he said. “We need to look at expanding the incentives.”