You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n
L.A. Times reporters guide you through the most important news, features and recommendations of the morning.<\/p>\n
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service<\/a>, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy<\/a> such as personalizing your experience and ads. <\/p>\n New incentives \u2014 including $3,500 off new EVs and $1,750 off used ones<\/a> \u2014 certainly help motivate Californians to go electric. And unlike the federal tax credits that expired in September, these incentives offer an instant discount and don\u2019t require buyers to apply for credit later.<\/p>\n While the pros to EV adoption are plentiful, there are cons that explain why some Californians haven\u2019t traded in their gas vehicle for an EV.<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed legislation<\/a> cutting red tape for charging projects. But there is still a significant gap in EV charging access.<\/p>\n People in L.A.\u2019s lower-income communities have a harder time accessing EV chargers, according to a 2025 UCLA study<\/a>. \u201cEV chargers aren\u2019t just missing in disadvantaged communities \u2014 they\u2019re also more likely to be broken. That\u2019s a double barrier for people who can\u2019t charge at home,\u201d said Dr. Yifang Zhu, one of the study\u2019s researchers.<\/p>\n Then there are issues such as maintenance and the number, or lack, of mechanics who are equipped to work on EV vehicles.<\/p>\n \u201cI live near Palm Springs and I had purchased a hybrid which needed some work. Turns out there are not enough mechanics in my area who know how to work on hybrid vehicles. Even most of the dealers out here have only one mechanic who works on hybrids. I gave up my quest and settled for a regular gas-powered vehicle,\u201d reader Kerri W. wrote.<\/p>\n Most readers had favorable things to say about joining the EV revolution in California, but a few readers told us why they were holding onto their gas vehicles.<\/p>\n Here are some of their responses.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a BMW i3, it was mostly EV with a 2 gallon gas tank for emergencies. I loved it! Or at least I did love it, until rolling black outs and significant power outages came with regularity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ease of plugging in my car at night to charge did not outweigh the fear and insecurity I felt when the power was out indefinitely. I couldn\u2019t even get in my car to drive and feel the AC during a power outage on my street. One episode lasted over 24 hours in the summer!<\/p>\n \u201cAnd let\u2019s be honest, electricity is expensive! I\u2019m in an apartment and just last month had a $750 power bill. No, I don\u2019t run a data center, but I work from home and must use AC. Sadly, my landlord will not upgrade the single pane windows for better insulation.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a one car family of one and unless either of those stats change, I will not own an EV again. It\u2019s not safe and way too costly for this woman.\u201d \u2013 Krista P.<\/p>\n \u201cMy EV is the most satisfying physical object I\u2019ve ever purchased \u2014 and I own the cheapest one in America, the Chevy Bolt EV. I love the quiet when I drive, quick acceleration, simplicity of maintenance and knowing that I\u2019m spending less cash and burning less carbon on every trip. The rare moments when public charging can be a stressor are more than made up for by the joy of laughing my way past the gas station every week.\u201d \u2013 Michael B.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 28 years old, from Los Angeles, and have only ever driven an electric car. In high school, I drove an adorably small electric Smart Car. After college, I traded up size wise (marginally) to a Fiat 500e. And now as a \u2018grown up,\u2019 I drive a Subaru Solterra. I couldn\u2019t imagine switching to a gas car \u2014 especially knowing that I\u2019d have to give up that extremely quick acceleration that make EVs so fun to drive.\u201d \u2013 Carrington W.<\/p>\n \u201cWith gasoline nearing $6 a gallon, EVs make even more sense. After keeping two gas vehicles for more than six decades, I\u2019m now in the market for a late-model EV with comprehensive safety features. As an older driver, I want the latest protections and don\u2019t drive as far as I used to. We\u2019ll keep one gas car and use the EV for everyday tasks.\u201d \u2013 Darrel W.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve looked at EVs and hybrids for a number of years, but haven\u2019t jumped into the waters. We make 1-3 trips per year by car totaling up to 2,000 miles each into areas where services are sparse. The range of EVs haven\u2019t reached the point where we are comfortable with the risk and the hybrids we\u2019re interested in have trade-offs we\u2019re not ready to accept.\u201d \u2013 Stuart G.S.<\/p>\n \u201cWe switched to an EV a year ago and love it. We never go to the gas station and with rooftop solar and batteries, our PG&E bill dropped to zero. \u2013 Harvey P.<\/p>\n Top stories Left, Mayor Karen Bass at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles; right, councilmember Nithya Raman in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n (Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The race for L.A. mayorAhead of November\u2019s mayoral election, incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman, talked to The Times about why they were running.Bass talked about her response to the Palisades fire, police staffing, her management style at City Hall and her biggest mistake as mayor<\/a>.Raman addressed homelessness, how her stance on the LAPD has changed over time and her biggest mistake on the council<\/a>.California\u2019s home insurance crisis in high- and low-risk fire areasCalifornia\u2019s home insurance crisis<\/a> is spilling from high-fire zones into new Inland Empire suburbs, where even low-risk buyers struggle to secure full coverage on newly built, \u201caffordable\u201d houses.Faced with big-name carriers retreating, families are forced into California\u2019s insurer of last resort \u2014 the FAIR Plan \u2014 which has exploded into a $788-billion risk pool<\/a> covering 696,000 properties, far beyond its 1960s mission to stabilize redlined neighborhoods after the 1965 Watts riots.California\u2019s election war with Trump rages onMore newsCommentary and opinionEditor\u2019s pickMore picksThings to do Huguette Caland, Untitled, 1968<\/p>\n (Steve Kim \/ Huguette Caland Estate)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s recipe (Cody Reiss \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Most of the time, cooking editor Cody Reiss likes his figs raw. But when he can\u2019t get perfectly ripe figs, sometimes he likes to roast them the way he learned at Chez Panisse. They\u2019d cook them in the big, wood-fired pizza oven, use the remaining liquid as a base for a vinaigrette and serve the figs leaning up against a whole grilled quail. He has adapted that recipe to be made under a broiler and \u2014 since it\u2019s so hot out these days \u2014 used the roasting juices to make a sweet, summery sauce that\u2019s drizzled over each layer of a cartoonishly large roasted fig sundae<\/a>.<\/p>\n Question for you<\/p>\n Where\u2019s your favorite place to see fall colors in California? Email us at essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>, and your response might appear in the newsletter this week.<\/p>\n David P. says, \u201cMy favorite place to see fall colors is in Marin County, which contains a dazzling array of native and imported trees!\u201d<\/p>\n Photo of the day (Sandy Huffaker \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n Games Here\u2019s today\u2019s mini crossword<\/a>, plus our other free, daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and jigsaw games<\/a>.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jack Dolan, investigative reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this month, we asked you, our Essential California readers, to tell us whether you\u2019ve joined the growing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,2299,1085,891,2300,2297,340,2303,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,2302,1086,1459,2301,2298,74,225,315,688],"class_list":["post-470871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-california","tag-civic-revolt","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-days","tag-essential-california","tag-israel","tag-l-a","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-may","tag-pandemic","tag-part","tag-president-biden","tag-red-county","tag-san-diego","tag-state","tag-time","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Left,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790001016_426_.jpeg\")
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Jim Crouch stands before mature Engelmann oak trees in the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve in eastern San Diego County. As California is losing its oaks<\/a>, Crouch is planting 10,000, including in tree-scarce Altadena. <\/p>\n![\"Mini](\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/21\/ec\/25146a67473fbc80fa9a6e5bdb82\/minicrossword-kyle.svg\")
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Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor, Fast Break desk
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, weekend writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n