You can get more EV options thanks to stricter emissions rules
car manufacturers have made a lot of promises on electric vehicles. General Motors, Ford and Volvo, among the most ambitious, have pledged to sell only zero-emission cars by at least 2035. That’s quite a commitment, as only 14% of new cars sold globally last year were electric, with half in the US being.
But a new proposal released by the US Environmental Protection Agency today threatens to hold automakers to their electric big talk and up the ante. The agency has suggested tougher emissions standards that it calculates would require electric vehicles to account for two-thirds of new passenger vehicle sales by 2032, sending millions more electric vehicles onto the grounds of dealers. He also wants to toughen the standards for heavy trucks, but less aggressively.
At a press conference Wednesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan called the proposals, which would take effect in 2027, “the toughest federal pollution standards for cars and trucks.” If passed, the rules could prevent the release of nearly 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide until 2055.
The new pollution rules would work by requiring automakers to ensure that every year between 2027 and 2032 the total emissions from all the vehicles they sell decrease. To achieve these increasingly reduced targets without reducing sales, manufacturers would have to offer a range of greener vehicles. That could mean increasing fuel economy, offering more hybrids, or launching more hydrogen or battery-powered cars. Growing consumer appetite for electric vehiclesand the more than a trillion dollars automakers have planned for electrification, suggests that building more battery-powered cars could be the industry’s easiest route to reducing emissions.
The proposals could become one of the Biden administration’s most important steps to reduce air pollution and decarbonize the U.S. transportation system, which alone is responsible for more than a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions. from the country.
Two years ago, a bipartisan infrastructure agreement invested $7.5 billion to build a nationwide electric vehicle charging network, so plug-powered drivers can one day get around without fear of running out of power. As recently as last summer, the The Inflation Reduction Act created new incentives for companies considering electrifying their own car and truck fleets, and launched new tax credits rewarding companies that manufacture batteries and electric cars in the United States.
Automakers have complained that these new rules make it difficult build electric vehicles that qualify for tax credits now. But they have spurred new U.S. mining, battery-building and manufacturing projects, seedlings White House hopes of a global auto industry. led by the United States and not by China.
Dave Cooke, senior vehicle analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, says the EPA’s proposal builds on those previous policies to clarify what’s expected of automakers as the U.S. tries to cut back. carbon emissions. “We gave them the carrot,” he said. “Now here is the stick.”
What does this mean for drivers? If the EPA’s tough new rules go into effect, Americans should see many more affordable electric vehicles in dealerships over the next decade.
