According to Reuters, the US Environmental Protection Agency is set to propose new rules as early as next week to encourage sweeping cuts in vehicle emissions pollution, which will push automakers toward a significant increase in electric vehicle sales.
The proposed rules are expected to apply to model years 2027 through 2032. Environmental groups and some automakers believe the proposal will result in at least 50% of the US vehicle fleet being electric or plug-in hybrid by 2030, which is in line with a goal set by President Joe Biden in 2021. The administration has refused to support California and other states’ calls to ban the sale of new gasoline-only light-duty vehicles by 2035.
The EPA finalized new light-duty tailpipe emissions requirements through the 2026 model year in December 2021, reversing then-President Donald Trump’s rollback of car pollution cuts.
One major unknown is whether the new EPA rules will be as aggressive as California’s effort to increase zero-emission vehicles and phase out new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, Steven Cliff, told Reuters in December that the federal government should “look at stringency that’s equivalent to our rules… We’re 68% zero emissions in 2030, so modeling that and looking at that as an option for 2030 is absolutely critical.”
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group that represents nearly all automakers, including Ford Motor, Volkswagen, and Toyota Motor, stated on Thursday that the industry supports the transition to EVs. “The question isn’t whether it can be done, but how quickly it can be done.”
Automakers are concerned that the administration will force them to spend large sums to improve the efficiency of internal combustion vehicles, which will be phased out over the next decade. According to the alliance, “every dollar invested in internal combustion technology is a dollar not spent on zero carbon technology.”
Because gas-powered vehicles will be on the road for decades, environmentalists want the EPA to require significant pollution reductions.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also intends to propose new fuel economy standards in the coming weeks.\
California has yet to submit a formal request to the Biden administration for approval of its plan to phase out gasoline-only models.
Tesla called on California last year to ban gasoline vehicles by 2030. General Motors has stated that it intends to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.