A recent plan by California to require all new cars sold in the state run on either electricity or hydrogen is excessive and impractical.

The proposal, if allowed by federal regulators, would take effect in 2035 — probably the concept’s only begrudging concession to reality. While advances in the feasibility of electric cars and hydrogen-powered cars are promising, the artificial deadline fails to account for the challenges it faces.

Laurie Holmes of automaker Kia told the Associated Press that car companies “could have significant difficulties meeting this target given elements outside of the control of the industry.”

The state’s electrical grid lacks the capacity to routinely charge such a volume of electric cars — and as the state government presses the industry to shift from gas-powered plants to renewable sources, other priorities will complicate California’s ability to reach that goal.

California also doesn’t have enough charging stations to accommodate the number of electric vehicles it plans on forcing onto its roadways — it is in fact about 170,000 short of its 2025 goal of 250,000.

The plan eschews more realistic options, including improving mileage standards in conventional gasoline-powered cars, promoting freight rail, improving the environmental impact of natural gas — already a vastly cleaner source of energy than coal — and encouraging public transit and carpooling.

No state should allow alarmism about the environment to dictate “solutions” that won’t work and will more likely harden opinions against any degree of change, when avenues for real and steady improvement exist.