Sacramento has spent years squeezing refiners out of the state. Now it’s squeezing tire manufacturers, all while insisting each new mandate is somehow a gift to drivers and taxpayers.
Posted by Leslie Eastman
California has spent recent years enacting stricter environmental and regulatory rules that have pushed refiners like Phillips 66 and Valero to shutter major in-state facilities, shrinking the state’s refining capacity by roughly 20-30% and helping drive gasoline prices to among the highest in the nation.
Against this backdrop of rising fuel costs, the state’s latest move to “help” consumers is to create the first-in-the-nation mandate requiring replacement car tires to match the energy efficiency of new tires.
In other words, our eco-activist bureaucrats say they plan to soften the pain at the pump by controlling what tires we purchase… rather than expanding fuel supply.
California just became the first state in the nation to require that replacement car tires be as energy-efficient as new ones, a move the state says will save drivers a billion dollars annually while reducing gasoline and electricity demand.
“This is a time where there’s great economic pressure on a lot of working people across the country,” California Energy Commission chair David Hochschild said, right before the agency voted Monday to pass the rule that the legislature mandated more than 20 years ago. “I see this decision as sheltering the public from higher costs long term.”
Tires on brand new cars have low “rolling resistance,” meaning they generate less heat as they bounce against the road and lose less of the energy that otherwise would keep the car in motion. That boosts a car’s overall miles per gallon.
Replacement car tires typically have higher rolling resistance, but under California’s new rule, they will have to at least match the energy efficiency of the average new car tire by 2033. On the way there, an interim target goes into place in 2029.
The tradeoff is stark: while California works to curb the very refining industry that keeps gas affordable, it’s simultaneously asking consumers to squeeze more miles out of every gallon through incremental efficiency gains in something as ordinary as tire rubber.
This action stems from a bill state lawmakers approved in 2003 (AB 844) that directed the California Energy Commission to explore rules around tire efficiency. It sat idle up until this year.
Commissioner Nancy Skinner (a former state senator and environmentalist appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom) was asked why the commission didn’t act sooner. She responded, “There may not have been those cost pressures.”
The California Energy Commission dusted off a 20+ year old bill to pass new rules restricting tire sales in the state.
The CEC has not regulated tires before.
I asked Commissioner (former State Sen) Nancy Skinner if she pushed it & why this sat dormant until now. pic.twitter.com/Th8zpvHTtl
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) August 18, 2026
Actual tire experts disagree about the likely consequences of these new rules.
Bret Gladfelty, on behalf of Goodyear, told the commission that this will increase costs for consumers and said the commission had yet to resolve technical and legal issues with the rules.
In a letter to the CEC, Gladfelty had questioned the data the CEC released to the public about the cost of new tires, noting that while the commission says the price increases average about $6.50 per tire in phase 2, Gladfelty warned increase costs could actually end up being in the several hundreds of dollars.
Gladfelty told KCRA 3 this new rule will eliminate an estimated 70% of the tires currently sold in California by 2033.
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.
These requirements will have other consequences. Some beneficial…to out-of-state tire suppliers.
California gas is already about $2 more per gallon than much of the country.
Now California regulators want to decide which replacement tires you’re allowed to buy—eliminating many popular tires because they aren’t deemed “energy efficient” enough.
This is California politics… pic.twitter.com/nhGVzMG2kv
— Jon Stoddard (@JonMStoddard) August 18, 2026
Others, less so. There will likely be safety repercussions that the CEC clearly did not consider.
Removing 70% of the tires sold in California will create a monopoly for the remaining 30%. The Demand will be high, and they will charge whatever they want.
People will delay replacing worn tires, making roads more dangerous.
Oh, the black market will be off the hook. https://t.co/wABsvHq5nT
— Apu (@Sharmadn916) August 18, 2026
But the bureaucrats can feel good about reducing the state’s carbon footprint.
The standards are also expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 2 million metric tons each year. The CEC says that is equivalent to taking about 400,000 gas-powered cars off California roads.
California’s tire mandate is a perfect example of toxic bureaucracy: Strangle supply, then micromanage demand, and call it consumer relief.
Sacramento has spent years squeezing refiners out of the state, and now it’s squeezing tire manufacturers, all while insisting each new mandate is somehow a gift to drivers and taxpayers.
If California’s leaders truly wanted to lower costs at the pump, they’d start by getting out of the way of refining capacity instead of dictating the chemistry of your tire rubber.
As the late Rush Limbaugh might have added to the headline, to further emphasize where the real world impacts are actually seen:
“California’s New Tire Mandate Could Drive Up Costs – low income women and minorities hardest hit“
Sounds like A number of people will be planning vacations in Reno and have their tires replaced while they’re there.
“Stay at our casino and have an extra $100 bonus towards tire replacements”
“Join our players club, earn 5000 points and get a free set of tires.
A true entrepreneur
I just heard a California tire dealer on Fox News complaining about this new tire rule. He says Californians can order any tire they want via mail order, so he loses a sale, although he will get customers who want him to mount their mailed-in tires.
So it sounds like the California tire dealers and the tax base will be hurt, along with Californians paying shipping charges.
California Democrat politicians seem determined to bankrupt California. Have they been consulting with the UK’s Mad Ed Miliband? They have similar levels of delusion. I suppose that goes along with being a radical leftist. One has to have a certain level of delusion to be a leftist in the first place.
As I was reading the article my thought was big tire stores will be located just across state line at every road leaving California.
This would be the smart thing for tire stores to do!
So you could just add a few psi to the tire pressure in your current aftermarket tires, and get about the same reduction in rolling resistance. But nooooooooo, California, you have to make a disruptive and coercive rule!
I think this change is not about getting people to buy the ‘wrong’ tyre, it’s more about making people take the train. A train wheel has very low friction, surely that’s where the legislation is going to end in just a few more years.
Take the high speed train…. Is it ready yet?
No. So people will now have to walk.
Low rolling resistance tires improve fuel economy and EV range but can reduce wet-weather grip and increase braking distances, while high-grip tires prioritize traction and safety in slippery conditions at the cost of higher energy use.
One of the central tenets of socialism is that people who don’t work for government are too stupid to make decisions for themselves.
That’s why everything must be run by government.
You comment reminded me of a time back many years when I introduced a friend of mine who was a dentist. She worked for the VA in Los Angeles.
My friend asked what do you do? She said I work for the VA. He said I know people who are employed by the VA but no one who works for the VA. He was right, there were people who seemed to do very little who were basically paper pushers and of course some worked hard as I saw when I was a resident at the Brentwood VA long ago.
Then if increasing air pressure makes regular tires act like low resistance tires simply lower PSI on low resistance tires. Should be the same result. Unless they will have Tire Pressure Police.
Not quite the same.
Picture a tyre supplied by the dealer/manufacturer, it may look like the ribbed tyre. Great for fuel economy because it doesn’t pump any water off the road and doesn’t provide a great deal of grip, especially from the side wall, (think soft sand).
You can let the pressure in or out on this tyre and all you will do is introduce more length of the rib to the road. And of course, raise the rolling resistance.
Now look at the lug tread, that pattern will pump water off the road and the edge pieces will provide a pattern that will enable side wall traction in soft sand.
Yes of course, the lug pattern uses more fuel, it’s doing work laterally that the other tyre is not. If you’re doing work, you’re consuming more fuel.
As a bonus, the lug pattern also makes a decent noise as you drive down the road.
For all my friends in northern CA, I can recommend Discount Tire in Reno, 10 miles from CA on I-80. Good prices, friendly service, shopping and good restaurants nearby. Give me a call when you’re in town and I’ll gladly buy you lunch and explain to you the difference between capitalism and communism.
Anyone looking for a good investment opportunity should look into tire stores in Nevada!
I just purchased new tires for my old Ford F250 from a nearby Discount Tire. Now I’m getting almost 20MPG; not bad for a 4X4 turbo diesel hotrod!
Good luck trying to edumacate Commifornians on economics. For many a complete brain transplant may be required!
Best the replacement brain comes from a red State! 😉
News flash. The rolling resistance of tires is mainly a function of tire air pressure, NOT rubber composition. Plus a couple of pounds, guys. Your regulation reflects abject ignorance.
Note that most vehicles give a range of optimum tire pressures depending on vehicle loading for exactly that reason. My trusty old 2007 Ford Hybrid Escape does—range is 34 with just 1-2 passengers to 38 fully loaded with cargo or towing—all measured at ‘cold’ (before rolling) ambient. So they need a bit more air in winter than summer thanks to physics ideal gas law. The Escape is newly on its fourth set of tires due to aging dry rot rather than wear.
I doubt that it all boils down to tire pressure. Over-inflated tires will wear faster in the center and under-inflated tires will wear faster on the edges. Professional racers have certainly looked into how composition affects grip, braking, and mileage. There is another comment above that explains how tread pattern similarly affects performance on wet and snowy pavement. Off-roaders learn the hard way how tread pattern can keep them from getting stuck.
I’m not an off-roader, but don’t they often let some air out of their tires to get better grip when climbing hills?
Paul:
Yes. 15-20 PSI in sand, and always reinflated before returning to the road; according to my off-road buddies.
In WW2 the US had an amphibious truck known as the DUK. It could load up at a ship, swim to the beach and drive out onto the sand and then onto the road. (It was also good in snow.)
One feature it had was that the driver could control the tire pressure from the cab. (Must had a compressor built in.) There was a lever with notches, labeled sand, road etc. with other notches in between. (On Iwo Jima, they set the tire pressure to the lowest notch, below sand.)
Eliminating CARB would lower gas prices. The feds aready regulate the area.
That’s it, my car is going on a Low CARB diet.
I suggest putting a maximum speed limit of 42 mph on all CA State and Interstate highways.
Maybe Sammy “I Can’t Drive 55” Hagar could do a remake of his hit song.
I think a better top speed would be 2000 revs in top gear, (for a diesel), and 2200 for a petrol engine.
Note, this is an absolute guess at the best engine fuel consumption rate but it will be fun when you get pulled over and you state to the officer that you can go faster than usual for your car because you have fitted taller tyres.
Bad luck to anyone who places low profile tyres on the standard rims.
Yet another example of crappy government screwing things up for everybody for no good reason. Government needs to be cut down to size.
It isn’t for no reason. In order to be re-elected, legislators have to give the public the impression that they are doing something constructive besides chasing their interns. Therefore, they legislate, whether it is needed or not.
Next step is the CARB tire pressure police. Random stops to check your tire pressure and whether you have conforming tires.
100,000s of well paying “green” jobs.
The reduce rolling resistant tires have less grip on the road so one is more likely to run into somebody or fly off the road. As to cost, every commissioner is rich, the tire cost to them is peanuts so they do not care about the cost of the tires or gas for that matter. What they all want is to destroy the middle class and have only the welfare class voting so they have total absolute power forever.
mf
Here is a solution, stay further behind, and drive for the conditions.
I cannot control the driver or the car behind me.
Yours is a swing and a miss.
Dangerous solution: drafting 18-wheelers. Until you get into a MVA, by doing so you’d save a lot more gas than from low-resistance tires [which according to Gemini AI saves 1-3% assuming your tire pressures are at specs].
Other less dangerous choices than drafting: overinflate the tires, no “jack rabbit” starts, max of 45 mph, and coasting [these are the Hyper Miler tricks; but God help you if you are stuck behind them on some road where you can’t pass!].
Do not be confused. This is not about tires and/or whatever benefits may befall the great California consumer. California State government is now just an organization designed to create as many 150-450k jobs as possible and to create and sustain these individuals and those around them: spouses, kids, friends and neighbers who will all continue to vote for democrats. Just because they have a strong majority does not stop them they need the insurance for later. What they actually do and propose or appear to do just needs to appear to be connected to some value or reason or law, but only barely. This regulation took 20 years for them to formulate and put in place. 20 years. Anyone could have done this in a month. It is easy to mock, but you have to admire their ingenuity in fiscal depravity. The high speed train is said to be a $1 billion a year project for the next 50 years. Its not about a high speed train is it?
Here is another great idea..
Award the contract to the Chinese, it will be half the cost, and completed in 25% of the time
Bingo. In my state just to the north of CA we have the greater Portland area requiring pollution checks of your vehicle before renewing car license. Yes it was started because the area was failing EPA pollution levels. It no longer is so did they close the stations? No. Why? As stated by a one commissioner during an interview they did not want those employees to lose their jobs. So now it’s just a state job creation mechanism.
FYI they no longer even check a cars emission, they check to see if their is any active engine codes and if not you pass…
Helping you check your engine codes what a great service! Portland grew up there I did. Was a proud liberal republican state. The great Senator Wayne Morse was one of two senators to vote against the Vietnam war. In the 70s we had the first bottle bill where bottles were 10 cents and cans were 5 cents and could be returned to any store. And there was a sign at the border telling Californians to visit and not stay! How far it has fallen. Nowadays all the blue states and cities seem to be in a competition to see which can pass the worst laws.
I hope this action helps explain to those who are curious why there is a red star and a bear on our flag
I have absolutely no sympathy for anyone in California when it comes to this BS. You voted for this and you CONTINUE to vote for this so F’n spare me the sob stories. And if you live in California and DIDN’T vote for this then move the hell out or don’t bitch. Your choice.
On the other hand, it would appear that there is an opportunity for a black market in “illegal tires” for some enterprising individuals. Happened all the time during WW2. Local guy in my hometown became rather wealthy selling tires “on the side”
I get so tired of people blaming the voter.
Haven’t you heard that elections have been rigged in over 100 countries in recent years?
The joys of democracy.
California is still one of the primary engines of economic growth in this country and the world so it is not quite so easy to write off and it affects everyone else in the usa. Plus because of our bellyaching when they pass this stupid laws happens there is a long history in the state of repealing these laws when like this one they go to far. The repeal gets a lot less press and the CA bashing (yes for good reason mostly) crowd never seems to get those memos. 2 years and repeal is my estimate. Similar to MTBE. 1996 required. By 1999 it was ordered to be phased out.
Why is it that replacement tires have higher rolling resistance than factory tires? There are usually tradeoffs. Is it because replacement tires have shorter braking distance and they can offer that because the cars no longer need to meet the mandated federal mileage standards?
Perhaps not today, but it was always the consumer, based on the advice of the salesman, that chose which version of tire to replace the old tire.
Harder tires = less friction … but also less braking efficiency = less safety. That is also “an additional cost to the taxpayer”.
It also makes it easier to spin the tires when pushing the pedal to the metal.
Well it looks like California are about to close down all replacement tyre/tire providers and send that business opportunity to adjoining states. They have almost completed their removal of oil refining businesses, makes you wonder what is next of the Democrat agenda for closing down?
Let’s hope California gets a Republican governor in the coming election.
He would be outnumbered by the Democrats.
There is a different perspective to consider.
Let California continue on its path of self-destruction.
Use that to make other States realize the foolishness of DSA and socialism and “sanctuary” status, etc. etc. etc.
We are in a civil war, now, today, and the best way to defeat an enemy is to let him defeat himself.
Seems movie production is starting its migration.
They already shut down education but have a vibrant, robust homeless and illegal alien business ongoing.
Hmmm….. Maybe the next closure is all of the State west of the San Andreas fault crashing into the Pacific? Fun movie.
Sounds shortsighted again. You only look at one aspect, energy-efficient, not durability, wet performances, braking distant. It’s the same with heatpumps. I come home at 7pm, turn on heating (gas) and 10 minutes later you’re warm. With a heatpump it takes 4 hours, so I have to heat 24/7, losing natural warmth from the sun. Even when energy-efficient your bill isn’t lower.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
The insanities will continue until sufficient damage is accrued.
Will California tires have to carry those warning labels?
“WARNING: The State of California has determined that this tire contains Carbon which causes just about everything bad!”