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March 20, 2024
(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) Final standards will expand consumer choice in clean vehicles and build on historic progress in U.S. auto manufacturing under President Biden’s Investing in America agenda -- Today, March 20, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final national pollution standards for passenger cars, light-duty trucks, and medium-duty vehicles for model years 2027 through 2032 and beyond. These standards will avoid more than 7 billion tons of carbon emissions and provide nearly $100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, and $62 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and maintenance and repair costs for drivers. The final standards deliver on the significant pollution reductions outlined in the proposed rule, while accelerating the adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies. EPA is finalizing this rule as sales of clean vehicles, including plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, hit record highs last year.
EPA projects an increase in U.S. auto manufacturing employment in response to these final standards, consistent with the broader Biden-Harris Administration commitment to create good-paying, union jobs leading the clean vehicle future. Strong standards have historically contributed to the U.S. leading the world in the supply of clean technologies, with corresponding benefits for American global competitiveness and domestic employment. Since President Biden took office, companies have announced more than $160 billion in investment in U.S. clean vehicle manufacturing and the U.S. auto manufacturing sector has added more than 100,000 jobs.
These standards will provide greater certainty for the auto industry, catalyzing private investment, creating good-paying union jobs, and invigorating and strengthening the U.S. auto industry. Over the next decade, the standards, paired with President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda and investments in U.S. manufacturing, will set the U.S. auto sector on a trajectory for sustained growth. Additionally, the final standards will lower costs for consumers. Once fully phased in, the standards will save the average American driver an estimated $6,000 in reduced fuel and maintenance over the life of a vehicle.
EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan will join President Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi today at an event in Washington, DC to announce the final standards and how they build on President Biden’s historic climate and economic record. The event will be livestreamed starting at noon EDT.
“With transportation as the largest source of U.S. climate emissions, these strongest-ever pollution standards for cars solidify America’s leadership in building a clean transportation future and creating good-paying American jobs, all while advancing President Biden’s historic climate agenda,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “The standards will slash over 7 billion tons of climate pollution, improve air quality in overburdened communities, and give drivers more clean vehicle choices while saving them money. Under President Biden’s leadership, this Administration is pairing strong standards with historic investments to revitalize domestic manufacturing, strengthen domestic supply chains and create good-paying jobs.”
“President Biden is investing in America, in our workers, and in the unions that built our middle class and established the U.S. auto sector as a leader in the world,” said President Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “The President’s agenda is working. On factory floors across the nation, our autoworkers are making cars and trucks that give American drivers a choice – a way to get from point A to point B without having to fuel up at a gas station. From plug-in hybrids to fuel cells to fully electric, drivers have more choices today. Since 2021, sales of these vehicles have quadrupled and prices continue to come down. This growth means jobs, and it means we are moving faster and faster to take on the climate crisis – all thanks to the President’s leadership.”
Statement from United Automobile Workers: “The EPA has made significant progress on its final greenhouse gas emissions rule for light-duty vehicles. By taking seriously the concerns of workers and communities, the EPA has come a long way to create a more feasible emissions rule that protects workers building ICE vehicles, while providing a path forward for automakers to implement the full range of automotive technologies to reduce emissions.”
Light- and Medium-Duty Vehicle Final Standards
The final standards announced today, the “Multi Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles,” build on EPA’s existing emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026. The standards continue the technology-neutral and performance-based design of previous EPA standards for cars, pickups, and vans, and leverage advances in clean car technologies to further reduce both climate pollution and smog- and soot-forming emissions. EPA is finalizing the same standard proposed for MY 2032 while allowing additional time for the auto sector to scale up clean vehicle manufacturing supply chains in the first three years covered by the rule.
Annually, the net benefits to society for the light- and medium-duty final rule are estimated to be $99 billion. The final rule is expected to avoid 7.2 billion tons of CO2 emissions through 2055, roughly equal to four times the emissions of the entire transportation sector in 2021. It will also reduce fine particulate matter and ozone, preventing up to 2,500 premature deaths in 2055 as well as reducing heart attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, aggravated asthma, and decreased lung function.
EPA received extensive feedback on the proposed rule, including through written comments, testimony at public hearings, and other stakeholder engagements. The final standards were informed by the best available data in the public record and rigorous technical assessments. Like the proposal, EPA’s final rule gives manufacturers the flexibility to efficiently reduce emissions and meet the performance-based standards through the mix of technologies they decide is best for them and their customers. EPA’s analysis considers a broad suite of available emission control technologies, and projects that consumers will continue to have a wide range of vehicle choices under the final rule, including advanced gasoline vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and full battery electric vehicles.
Compared to the existing MY 2026 standards, the final MY 2032 standards represent a nearly 50% reduction in projected fleet average GHG emissions levels for light-duty vehicles and 44% reductions for medium-duty vehicles. In addition, the standards are expected to reduce emissions of health-harming fine particulate matter from gasoline-powered vehicles by over 95%. This will improve air quality nationwide and especially for people who live near major roadways and have environmental justice concerns.
Investing in America’s Clean Transportation Future
The final rule reflects the significant investments in clean vehicle technologies that industry is already making domestically and abroad, as well as ongoing U.S. market shifts and increasing consumer interest in clean vehicles. The Biden-Harris Administration is also directly supporting communities across America in moving towards a cleaner transportation future, including by building a national network of EV chargers and alternative-fuel stations; ensuring domestic manufacturers have the critical minerals and materials they need to make EV batteries; and funding clean transit and clean school buses, with priority for underserved communities. President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is focused on growing the American economy from the bottom up and the middle out – from rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure, to creating a manufacturing and innovation boom, to building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
Here's what leaders are saying about the final rule:
“I’ve always said Michigan automakers are the best in the world. And this is their moment,” said Senator Debbie Stabenow (MI). “I appreciate EPA’s commitment to engaging with our automakers and autoworkers to develop an ambitious but achievable final rule. It represents an opportunity for union workers to continue to build the vehicles of the future right here in the U.S. and tackle the climate crisis.”
“My priority will always be to protect American jobs and our environment, keep the United States at the forefront of automotive manufacturing, technology, and innovation, and keep our domestic industry strong and competitive,” said Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-06). “The EPA has worked with all stakeholders to reach this final rule that includes hybrid and electric vehicles, and ensure these goals are achievable. It’s important to protect vehicle choice – the number of available models has doubled in the last three years, and in the last year sticker prices are down 20%. We need to continue to work on making sure that these vehicles are affordable to everyone, that we have the infrastructure in place to make them accessible and practical for consumers, and bring jobs back to the U.S. The bottom line is that the future of the industry must be created in America and driven by American workers, and we are all committed to working together toward that future.”
“The future is electric. Automakers are committed to the EV transition – investing enormous amounts of capital and building cutting edge battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids, traditional hybrids and fuel cell vehicles that drive efficiency and convert petroleum miles to electric miles,” said John Bozzella, President and CEO, Alliance for Automotive Innovation. “Consumers have tons of choices. But pace matters. Moderating the pace of EV adoption in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030 was the right call because it prioritizes more reasonable electrification targets in the next few (very critical) years of the EV transition. These adjusted EV targets – still a stretch goal – should give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up. It buys some time for more public charging to come online, and the industrial incentives and policies of the Inflation Reduction Act to do their thing. And the big one? The rules are mindful of the importance of choice to drivers and preserves their ability to choose the vehicle that’s right for them.”
“This is a day to celebrate American achievement. The step EPA is taking today will slash climate pollution and air pollution,” said Amanda Leland, Executive Director of Environmental Defense Fund. “It will bring more jobs for workers, more choices and more savings for consumers, and a healthier future for our children. The U.S. has leapt forward in the global race to invest in clean vehicles, with $188 billion and nearly 200,000 jobs on the way. Jobs in communities across the country, in places like Michigan, Nevada, and Kentucky. These clean car standards will help supercharge economic expansion and make America stronger.”
“These standards make clear that securing America’s global leadership in manufacturing and securing a better future are 100% aligned,” said Albert Gore, Executive Director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association. “We have everything we need today to meet and exceed this standard, and that means more of the vehicles sold in America will be made in America.”
Learn more information about the final rule. READ MORE
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Excerpt from Renewable Fuels Association: By failing to recognize and appropriately credit the benefits of ethanol, the 2027-2032 tailpipe emissions standards finalized today by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency disregard an obvious near-term opportunity for achieving significant vehicle efficiency improvements and greenhouse gas emissions reductions, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.
“While we share the Biden administration’s vision for reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency, today’s final rule certainly isn’t the best way to accomplish that goal,” said RFA President and CEO Geoff Cooper. “Clearly, the substantive concerns raised by automakers, ethanol producers, fuel suppliers, consumer groups, and many others went unheard by the White House and EPA. Today’s final rule effectively forces automakers to produce more battery electric vehicles based on the false premise that they are ‘zero-emission vehicles.’ At the same time, the regulation would strongly discourage manufacturers from pursuing other technologies—like flex fuel vehicles and engines optimized to operate on high-octane, low-carbon ethanol—that could achieve superior environmental performance at a lower cost to American consumers.”
Throughout the rulemaking process, RFA strongly encouraged EPA to abandon its de facto EV mandate and instead adopt a technology-neutral, full lifecycle analysis approach for assessing the true greenhouse gas impacts of various transportation options. Unfortunately, EPA’s final rule continues to ignore the significant upstream emissions related to electricity generation, as well as the substantial emissions involved in battery mineral extraction and processing.
RFA initially urged EPA to reconsider its emissions standards proposal with testimony at a hearing in May 2023, and also took part in a joint letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan in July. In its extensive comments submitted to EPA that month, RFA noted that multiple studies show ethanol significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is on the way to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
“If our nation is to reach its goal of net-zero GHG emissions by mid-century, we’ll need both cleaner, more efficient cars and cleaner, more efficient fuels,” RFA said in those comments. “And we’ll need to account for their emissions honestly using a full lifecycle approach. Focusing only on emissions from the vehicle—while ignoring emissions related to the extraction and production of the fuel used to power the vehicle—will almost certainly result in falling far short of the administration’s overall climate goals.”
RFA noted that voters are expressing increased concerns about the potential impact of EPA’s tailpipe regulations on future vehicle choices and prices. In a nationwide survey of 1,991 registered voters conducted last week, 68 percent said they oppose policies that mandate EVs, up from 63 percent when the same question was asked in September 2023. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of voters responding support policies that expand the availability of high-octane mid-level ethanol blends and flex fuel vehicles. READ MORE
Excerpt from Growth Energy: Today, Growth Energy, the nation’s largest biofuels trade association, expressed disappointment in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule on Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles.
“Since this rule was proposed last April, the Biden administration has heard loud and clear that it would be a mistake to ignore biofuels – a proven, abundant, and American-made solution to reduce emissions,” said Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor. “The final rule offers automakers some limited flexibility, but it fails to include any meaningful changes to ensure we’re not leaving biofuels on the sidelines.
“Experts worldwide agree that EVs alone cannot get us to a net-zero future. We need carbon savings within liquid fuels, and that requires a bigger role for American bioethanol. It’s baffling to see EPA accept a false choice between only two paths forward – fossil-fuel-only vehicles or mass adoption of EVs. Neither outcome reflects reality, and we’ll continue to work with our allies in Congress and across the heartland to demand a course correction that harnesses the full power of America’s low-carbon bioeconomy.”
Background
In April 2023, EPA released its Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles. Growth Energy responded to the initial proposal and then, in May, testified at a public hearing hosted by EPA on its tailpipe emissions proposal.
Growth Energy specifically called on EPA to:
- Accelerate the deployment of E15 nationwide;
- Approve and adopt high-octane, midlevel bioethanol blends like E30;
- Expand access to Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) in conjunction with use of E85; and
- Conduct a complete lifecycle analysis for EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles using the Argonne GREET model.
In formal comments to the agency, Growth Energy called on EPA to address its failure to leverage the role that biofuels continue to play in decarbonizing the transportation sector and to ensure that the lifecycle GHG emission profiles of all relevant technologies potentially governed by the rule are accurately determined. READ MORE
Excerpt from ABC News: Amid a contentious election year debate over the future of U.S. auto manufacturing, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced new vehicle emissions standards that will pressure the industry to make more electric vehicles.
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"Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission," President Joe Biden said in a statement.
"I brought together American automakers. I brought together American autoworkers.Together, we’ve made historic progress. Hundreds of new expanded factories across the country. Hundreds of billions in private investment and thousands of good-paying union jobs," he said. "And we’ll meet my goal for 2030 and race forward in the years ahead."
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In a press call on Tuesday, League of Conservation Voters vice president of federal policy Matthew Davis explained that the Biden administration is also mindful of releasing these standards during an election year and insulating them from possible rollbacks.
"We certainly have had conversations with the Biden administration and they are crystal clear about the importance of getting rules out to make sure that they withstand both legal challenges from the fossil fuel industry and any congressional attacks should Republicans take over the Senate and the White House," Davis said.
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The Trump administration previously rolled back Obama-era standards that were meant to affect vehicles manufactured through 2025.
The announcement of new standards also comes just days after former President Donald Trump criticized Biden's handling of the transition to electric vehicles at a campaign event for Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno.
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Despite the contentious rhetoric around EVs and car manufacturing in the U.S., environmental groups say it's important to characterize the rules correctly, noting that they don't call for a ban on traditional gas-powered cars.
"It's important to underscore that EPA standards -- they're performance based. They don't require manufacturers to sell any particular type of vehicle," Peter Zalzal, associate vice president of clean air strategies for the Environmental Defense Fund, told ABC News. "You can see the standards being met by improvements in internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and battery electric vehicles, so it's really about more choice."
Davis echoed that sentiment, saying, "There are a variety of pathways to meet the standards, and any messaging indicating that this is a fossil fuel car ban is just misinformation from the fossil fuel industry and should be treated as such." READ MORE
Excerpt from Inside Climate News: The regulations, designed to be “technology-neutral,” do not mandate that automakers increase EV sales. Instead, they require them to cut greenhouse gas pollution from an estimated fleet average of 186 grams per mile in model year 2026 to 85 grams per mile by model year 2032, a reduction of 54 percent. That’s slightly less stringent than the original EPA proposal unveiled last year, which sought a 56 percent cut, to 82 grams per mile, by 2032. The rules also would impose the cuts more gradually, and include a variety of credits and other options for automakers that the EPA anticipates will mean a bigger role for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Toyota, which introduced the hybrid gas-electric vehicles to the market with its Prius in 1997, has lagged in all-electric drive but now offers hybrid versions of most models. Plug-in hybrids like the Ford Escape SUV, which travel solely on electric power for a certain number of miles before switching to gas, have proven popular and manufacturers are adding them to their lineups.
Several automakers, including Ford and GM, have said in recent months that hybrids will be an important part of their lineups going forward, an emphasis that responds to requests from dealers and signs of rising demand for the models.
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At least one stakeholder does not think the changes that EPA made in its proposal will weaken it at all: the oil industry. “At a time when millions of Americans are struggling with high costs and inflation, the Biden administration has finalized a regulation that will unequivocally eliminate most new gas cars and traditional hybrids from the U.S. market in less than a decade,” said a joint prepared statement by American Petroleum Institute President Mike Sommers and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Chet Thompson. “As much as the President and EPA claim to have ‘eased’ their approach, nothing could be further from the truth.” They called on Congress to overturn the regulation; failing that, they said their organizations would challenge it in court.
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The pleas to ease the stricter regulations came from both the auto industry and the United Auto Workers in an election year when winning Michigan is seen as essential to Biden’s re-election chances; he trails Trump in most recent polls. Trump has made anti-EV rants a standard part of his stump speeches, and over the weekend, to clarify his prediction of “a bloodbath” if he is not re-elected, he posted on the social media platform Truth Social that he was referring to the election’s impact on the auto industry.
But Biden is going into the election with the endorsement of the United Auto Workers, after becoming the first sitting president to walk a picket line when he supported the union’s strike against automakers last fall. UAW President Shawn Fain appeared as Biden’s guest at his State of the Union address earlier this month.
In a briefing with reporters Tuesday, senior administration officials repeatedly stressed their engagement with labor on the vehicle emissions rules. In its comments to the EPA last year, the UAW voiced concern that the EV transition could lead to “an erosion of job quality” in the auto industry, with jobs shifting to lower-paid, non-union plants. READ MORE
Excerpt from Fox News/Office of Tim Walberg (R-MI 5th): Additionally, a wide range of Republican lawmakers immediately blasted the regulations and vowed to take action to overturn them before they are implemented.
"The Biden administration’s approval of an EPA rule that essentially forces Americans to buy electric vehicles is just another example of the president’s reckless and misinformed regulatory agenda," Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital. "I strongly urge President Biden to reverse this misguided decision and allow American families to decide which vehicle is best for them. The free market — not government mandates — must prevail."
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, recently led a letter of more than 130 Republican lawmakers calling on the Biden administration to back off EV mandates.
Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who, along with Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., introduced the Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act in July, also ripped the regulations. The CARS Act, which would nix EPA's tailpipe regulations, passed in a House vote of 221-197 in December, but it has yet to receive a Senate floor vote.
"Top-down government edicts cannot change the demand of consumers overnight, yet this is exactly the Biden administration's plan," said Walberg. "This rule restricts the choices of American consumers and will price millions out of the market, eliminate American jobs, and forever link our auto industry with the Chinese Communist Party."
Additionally, Sens. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, both members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, vowed to introduce new resolutions blocking the regulations finalized Wednesday. They said in a joint statement that the plan is "delusional" and would require an act of Congress to move forward. READ MORE
Excerpt from National Public Radio: The EPA expects that under the new rules, EVs could account for up to 56% of new passenger vehicles sold for model years 2030 through 2032, meeting a goal that President Biden set in 2021.
The regulations are a cornerstone of the Biden Administration's efforts to fight climate change.
Combined with investments the U.S. is making in battery and electric vehicle manufacturing, the auto regulations will help shift the U.S. away from relying on fossil fuels for transportation, a senior administration official said during a call with reporters.
"Three years ago, I set an ambitious target: that half of all new cars and trucks sold in 2030 would be zero-emission," Biden said in a statement, adding that the country will meet that goal "and race forward in the years ahead."
Biden added that U.S. workers "will lead the world on autos making clean cars and trucks, each stamped 'Made in America.'"
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The EPA rules are not written as an EV mandate or a ban on the sale of gas cars, like some states and other countries have adopted. Instead, the EPA sets standards that apply across an entire fleet — meaning an automaker still can make vehicles with higher emissions, as long as they also make enough very low or zero-emission vehicles that it averages out.
That means over the next decade, automakers can continue to offer a range of vehicle types, but the "menu" that's available to consumers will shift to be cleaner overall.
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Of course, the auto industry is not a monolith. All-electric automakers like Tesla and Rivian encouraged the EPA to set even more stringent rules.
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The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which has spent millions on ads against the EPA rules and other policies, also criticized the EPA for not considering the environmental impact of manufacturing a giant battery or charging an EV. A large body of research has found that even with those impacts factored in, EVs are still vastly better for the planet than comparable fossil fuel vehicles. It's true, however, that larger, less efficient EVs have a bigger environmental footprint than smaller ones.
But the oil industry's opposition goes even further. The attorney general of Texas has previously filed a lawsuit challenging the EPA's authority to set rules designed to promote electric vehicles. Multiple oil trade groups backed Texas in the case. The auto industry sided with the EPA, noting that carmakers are investing billions in going electric and that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a "national priority." READ MORE
Excerpt from Reuters: Automakers won separate relief on Tuesday when the Energy Department softened and opted to phase in new rules that will reduce the mileage rating of EVs. That will help the Detroit Three avoid billions of dollars in fines for not meeting fuel efficiency standards through 2032.
Shares in General Motors, Ford and Stellantis rose on Wednesday, with Ford up the most, up 3.5 % in afternoon trading. Investors and analysts have been urging the Detroit automakers to slow investments in money-losing electric vehicles. The Biden administration rules give them more leeway to do that. READ MORE
Excerpt from CNN: Automakers like Toyota, who are favoring hybrids and plug-in hybrids and moving slowly on EVs, could be big benefactors of EPA’s new rule.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is among the companies that aggressively pushed back against the Biden administration’s original proposal.
In a memo sent in the fall of 2023 to car dealers across the US, Toyota Motor North America group vice president of government affairs Stephen Ciccone described the EPA’s original EV proposal as a “mandate” and “draconian,” CNN recently reported. Ciccone wrote the proposal had caused an “existential crisis” in the industry and suggested an option giving automakers more choice.
“Toyota’s position is that the best way to reduce carbon is by giving consumers a choice of powertrain options, including hybrids, plug-in hybrids, fuel cells, fuel efficient ICE vehicles, and BEVs,” Ciccone wrote.
That flexibility is what the EPA finalized on Wednesday. But Toyota continued to characterize EPA’s rule as a “regulatory mandate” that will force it further into the EV game than it’s currently positioned.
The rule “requires a precipitous shift from around 8% market share of battery electric vehicles today to more than half by 2032 – an aggressive, sixfold increase over just eight years,” said Toyota spokesperson Edward Lewis in a statement. “Toyota will continue to lead the industry and comply with regulations, but serious challenges around affordability, charging infrastructure, and supply chain will need to be addressed before this mandate is realized.”
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But political battle lines are being drawn around the EV transition. Former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election, has railed against EVs in his speeches. He recently characterized EVs as “all” being made in China, even though Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act has pushed a new EV manufacturing and assembly to the United States.
With the new standard giving automakers more flexibility, EPA administrator Michael Regan denounced the characterization that the agency was setting an EV “mandate.”
“When you look at the differences between the proposal and final, you will see that there is absolutely no mandate,” Regan told reporters, adding his agency was staying “well within the confines of the law.”
It’s not just Trump; the jump to EVs has some of Biden’s political allies worried, too. The United Auto Workers, a powerful union that has endorsed Biden, has also expressed concerns about what the shift to EVs could mean for their workers, who believe battery-powered cars require less labor to build. READ MORE
Excerpt from Associated Press: The Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, has increasingly reined in the powers of federal agencies, including the EPA, in recent years. The justices have restricted the EPA’s authority to fight air and water pollution — including a landmark 2022 ruling that limited the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants that contribute to global warming.
At the same time, the Democratic president needs cooperation from the auto industry and political support from auto workers, a key political voting bloc. READ MORE
Excerpt from Detroit Free Press:
A year ago in April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shocked the auto industry and heartened environmentalists by proposing tailpipe emissions standards so strict that, by model year 2032, automakers would virtually be required to ensure that two-thirds of all new cars and light-duty trucks sold were electric vehicles (EVs) or potentially face stiff fines.
The final standards released Wednesday didn't back off that ambitious 2032 target in terms of the fleetwide reduction in greenhouse gases, including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and others that are considered dangerous to human health and contribute to climate change.
But they did change the amount by which those reductions occur beginning with model year 2027, making them somewhat less strict compared with the current standards in the first couple of years, before ramping them up more steeply later. And while the original proposal — which was always technology-neutral in theory, meaning automakers could sell any cars and light-duty trucks they wanted as long as they hit the fleetwide reductions — noted that the likely and least costly path toward hitting them meant an enormous growth in the sales of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), which accounted for only a portion of the 9% of new car sales last year, the final rule outlined several pathways that could work.
For instance, the EPA said, under one likely pathway, the percentage of light-duty trucks and cars powered by internal combustion engines (ICEs) could drop from 64% of new vehicle sales in model year (MY) 2027 and 58% in MY 2028, to 29% in MY 2032; while the percentage of battery-only electric vehicles (BEVs) could increase from 26% in 2027 and 31% in 2028, to 56% in 2028, with other EVs — pure hybrids and plug-in hybrids — making up the difference.
In the proposed rule last year, however, the pathway foresaw BEVs needing to account for 36% of new cars in 2027 and 45% in 2028 — a much steeper sales curve.
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President Joe Biden, whose administration worked with environmentalists, the automakers and the UAW in reaching the final rule — and who has been chastised by Republicans and former President Donald Trump for implementing what they have called an EV "mandate" — issued a statement saying he's following through on a promise to try to make half of all new cars and trucks sold by 2030 be zero-emission.
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Ford also issued a statement, calling the rule "ambitious and challenging" and saying it will "take close public-private cooperation" to achieve. But the automaker said it was committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions while offering its customers a full range of choices.
Stellantis, which was formerly Chrysler, also said, "While the later-year targets remain aggressive, the final rule improves on the proposal by better reflecting the expected trajectory of market demand and enabling infrastructure."
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, issued a statement saying Biden "needs to abandon his crusade against American energy and gas-powered vehicles."
In issuing the rule, the EPA noted that, in the second half of last year, some industry analysts suggested a drop in EV demand and that some automakers might be less interested in investing in EV production than they had been previously. It also remarked on Ford's temporary pause on construction of a battery plant in Marshall, which was also downsized, and GM's indication it would make more plug-in hybrids than initially believed.
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The EPA's final rule also set tough new standards for medium-duty vehicles like vans and both sets of standards still need to be coordinated with fuel economy standards — generally set in terms of miles-per-gallon of fuel and their equivalent for electric vehicles — set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which is expected to happen in the next several months.
But the administration is clearly looking to coordinate those upcoming mpg standards with the EPA's rule and other agencies involved in setting fuel standards: This week, the Energy Department changed another proposed rule on how agencies translate EV performance to mpg standards when determining fleetwide compliance that, as originally written, could have cost U.S. automakers billions, instead phasing the new regulations in over some years. READ MORE
Excerpt from DTN Progressive Farmer: While the new standards give automakers some flexibility in how they reduce emissions, the standards do little to use ethanol and other biofuels to reduce pollution.
The final rule requires 67% of new light-duty vehicles and 46% of medium-duty vehicles sold to be electric by 2032.
Agriculture and biofuels groups expressed disappointment.
The National Corn Growers Association said the standards will harm farmers and ranchers and their rural communities.
"The plan still relies almost exclusively on the use of electric vehicles, requiring that a majority of the specified fleets are electric in less than a decade," the NCGA said in a statement.
"A decision of this magnitude will have long-lasting negative implications for the rural economy because it ignores the benefits of ethanol."
NCGA President Harold Wolle said the EPA essentially chose to "ignore the readily available solution" that biofuels like ethanol provide.
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"This decision will not only severely hamper the administration's ability to reach its own climate goals, but it will also hurt family farms and rural communities that rely heavily on the sale of biofuels," he said.
"On top of that, it will remove consumer choice from the market."
NCGA said since about 33% of corn has been used in ethanol production annually, loss of corn demand will be harmful.
NCGA has been front and center in urging Congress to pass the "Next Generation Fuels Act," which would further promote the use of ethanol and other biofuels.
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In a nationwide survey of 1,991 registered voters conducted last week, 68% said they oppose policies that mandate EVs, up from 63% when the same question was asked in September 2023. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of voters responding support policies that expand the availability of high-octane mid-level ethanol blends and flex-fuel vehicles.
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in a statement the Biden administration should turn to nationwide E15 availability to curb vehicle pollution.
"The Biden administration's revised standard responds to a slowdown in sales as Americans realize not just the cost and unreliability of electric vehicles, but also the dirty truth behind this supposedly 'clean' technology," she said.
"Continuing to force EVs on automakers and the public will only exacerbate their serious environmental, safety and human rights concerns. More practical, market-driven changes like allowing the year-round sale of E15 ethanol would help achieve environmental goals for America's vehicle fleet."
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, said the administration should "reverse this misguided decision and allow American families to decide which vehicle is best for them. The free market -- not government mandates -- must prevail." READ MORE
Excerpt from The Hill:
“This rule is delusional. This is the Biden administration’s attempt to get rid of the internal-combustion engine without congressional authority. Together, we will be introducing Congressional Review Act legislation to overturn Biden’s EV mandate,” said a joint written statement from Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).
Their effort is unlikely to be successful, as such action requires either presidential approval or a two-thirds majority from Congress.
And the oil industry lobby groups have threatened to sue over the rule.
“Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, Congress has to make a decision whether to protect consumer choice, U.S. manufacturing workers and our hard-won energy security by overturning this deeply flawed regulation. Short of that, our organizations are certainly prepared to challenge it in court,” Chet Thompson, CEO of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and Mike Sommers, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API), said in a joint statement.
But, it received praise from the auto industry lobby, which praised the short-term slowing of the rules, saying it gave automakers more time to adjust.
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The rule, from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is technically not a mandate for electric vehicles or any specific vehicle technology.
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Officials said that the estimate the EPA gave in last year’s rule only looked at electric vehicles and did not model hybrid vehicles. READ MORE
Excerpt from Times Republican: To put it simply, folks, when the rubber meets the road, Biden’s EV fantasy just doesn’t work.
Luckily, there is a clear off-ramp to escape this road to nowhere: homegrown Iowa biofuels.
Throughout my (Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)) time in Congress, I’ve been a strong advocate for biofuels and higher ethanol blends like E15. Iowa farmers already feed the nation, and with wider use of biofuels, they have the ability to help sustainably fuel the nation, too. However, the Biden administration continues to stifle biofuels at every turn.
For years, the use of E15 has been banned during the summer – the season in which we see the highest numbers of drivers on the roads. A special emergency waiver must be granted by the administration each year to allow for its use.
Finally, after continued advocacy, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced they will allow year-round E15 sales in Iowa and seven other Midwestern states. I applaud Governor Kim Reynolds for leading this effort and securing permanent sales of E15. However, this change won’t actually be implemented until 2025.
The EPA’s unnecessary year-long delay punishes American families and farmers who have already faced record inflation, skyrocketing fuel prices, and uncertainty in the market thanks to this administration. As if that wasn’t enough, we now await another annual emergency waiver to allow E15 sales this upcoming summer.
This lack of urgency from the Biden administration hurts our consumers at the pump and our farmers in the fields. Biofuels are an essential part of our state’s economy. They are key to strengthening our rural communities and keeping gas prices low. That’s why we need a nationwide, permanent solution now – one that delivers E15 sales across the entire country, not just eight states in the Midwest.
I’ve been calling for this since 2017, and I’m not about to hit the brakes now. I’ll keep the pedal to the metal on the Biden administration until they give the green light to unleash the full potential of our homegrown biofuels – sooner rather than later. READ MORE
Excerpt from Office of U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.): U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, released the below statement after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its finalized rules that impose burdensome new emissions standards on American-made vehicles.
“With the final electric vehicle rules announced today, the Biden administration is deciding for Americans which kinds of cars they are allowed to buy, rent, and drive. Ironically, this is all coming at a time when the EPA is simultaneously forcing the closure of power plants that provide the baseload electricity these vehicles will rely on. These regulations represent yet another step toward an unrealistic transition to electric vehicles that Americans do not want and cannot afford, which threatens America’s electric grid and increases our reliance on China for critical minerals. I appreciate EPW Committee members Senator Ricketts and Senator Sullivan leading the congressional effort to overturn this harmful rule.”
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Capito also questioned how an ambitious pace of electric vehicle expansion could square with strains on the nation’s power grid. She called that “unsustainable.”
“It’s really sort of unbelievable how on the one hand they can say ‘You need to have all these EVs’ and on the other hand they can say ‘We don’t have the power. Make sure you don’t turn your heat on during the day’ and all of these kinds of things that have gone on from time to time,” she said.
Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., also expressed criticism of the EPA rule in a statement this week.
“The federal government has no authority and no right to mandate what type of car or truck Americans can purchase for their everyday lives,” Manchin stated.
“This reckless and ill-informed rule will impose what is effectively an EV mandate without ensuring the security of our supply chains from nations like China and without a realistic transition plan that addresses our domestic infrastructure needs.”
Congressman Alex Mooney, a Republican candidate for Senate, also knocked the EPA rule.
“President Joe Biden’s radical EPA is at it again,” Mooney said, adding that the “announcement of new tailpipe emission standards is death by regulation for gas-powered cars.
“West Virginians love to drive and are dependent on gas powered vehicles to navigate our great state. President Biden continues to act as a dictator — forcing an extreme left-wing mandate by executive fiat. I will oppose any effort by the Biden Administration to morph our country into a socialist utopia of overregulation run by nameless bureaucrats in Washington.”
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, a Republican candidate for governor, also distributed a statement that was critical of the federal standard, describing “radical EV policies.”
“This is an attack on rural America and rural Americans who are working really hard to make ends meet who are going to get bludgeoned by this rule,” Morrisey stated.
“And this comes in a time when the Biden administration is plotting to destroy whatever is left of our energy production through regulations that would effectively shut down coal- and gas-fired power plants—the backbone of the nation’s power generation.” READ MORE
Excerpt from Washington Post/George Will: The Biden administration’s costly and coercive crusade to replace internal combustion vehicles (ICVs) with electric vehicles (EVs) is disproportionate to its minuscule climate impact. The American Enterprise Institute’s Benjamin Zycher says the EPA’s own assumptions project that the new regulations will mitigate global warming by 0.023 degrees Celsius by 2100. Because the standard deviation of the Earth’s surface temperature record is 0.11 degrees Celsius, “that effect would not be detectable.”
Each half-ton battery for “clean” vehicles requires, reports Mark P. Mills in City Journal, digging and processing 50 to 250 tons of earth for copper, nickel, aluminum, graphite and lithium, the prices of which will increase (as will the vehicles’ prices) when the easily accessed supplies decrease. All existing and planned mines can meet “only a small fraction” of the needed increase of those materials. The International Energy Agency says hundreds of huge new mines will be needed, each taking a decade or more to open.
EPA emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks will require more of them to be EVs (currently, 99 percent are not). Electric semis are heavy (because of their batteries), damage roadways and generate particulate-matter pollution from roads and their necessarily special tires. The Wall Street Journal reports that “an electric semi consumes about seven times as much electricity on a single charge as a typical home does in a day.” They require frequent recharges (95 minutes to charge the battery from 25 percent capacity to 93 percent), as well as multiple time-consuming, load-delivering trips because their weight limits load sizes.
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Consumer Reports finds that EVs have 79 percent more problems than ICVs.
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Tesla’s complex electronics make them substantially more expensive than ICVs to repair.
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Vehicle manufacturers, which are losing serious money on every EV they build, are compensating by raising prices on the ICVs that customers actually want.
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Businesses relying on electric pickup trucks find that time (which is money) is squandered on charging.
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Winter is unkind to EVs: Cold slows the batteries’ chemical reactions.
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Hot weather, too, makes the chemical reactions less efficient. READ MORE
Excerpt from Politico Pro E&E News PM: A coalition of Republican-led states is asking a federal appeals court to scrap the Biden administration’s new tailpipe rule for passenger cars and trucks, saying it exceeds EPA’s authority.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, along with Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman and 23 other states, on Thursday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review EPA’s new climate regulation, find it unlawful and vacate it.
The Republicans charge that the rule — the strongest-ever tailpipe emissions clampdown — would remake the automotive market, pushing electric vehicle sales from 8.4 percent of total vehicle sales today to 67 percent by 2032.
“This rule is legally flawed and unrealistic, to say the least,” Morrisey said in a statement. “With the high prices of electric vehicles, this would have devastating effects in the daily lives of consumers — many of whom are already suffering from the burdens of historically high inflation.” READ MORE
Excerpt from Associated Press: New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average about 38 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2031 in real-world driving, up from about 29 mpg this year, under new federal rules unveiled Friday by the Biden administration.
The final rule will increase fuel economy by 2% per year for model years 2027 to 2031 for passenger cars, while SUVs and other light trucks will increase by 2% per year for model years 2029 to 2031, according to requirements released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The final figures are below a proposal released last year. Administration officials said the less stringent requirements will allow the auto industry flexibility to focus on electric vehicles, adding that higher gas-mileage requirements would have imposed significant costs on consumers without sufficient fuel savings to offset them.
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Even as he promotes EVs, Biden needs cooperation from the auto industry and political support from auto workers, a key political voting bloc, as the Democratic president seeks reelection in November. The United Auto Workers union has endorsed Biden but has said it wants to make sure the transition to electric vehicles does not cause job losses and that the industry pays top wages to workers who build EVs and batteries.
Biden’s likely opponent, former President Donald Trump, and other Republicans have denounced Biden’s push for EVs as unfair for consumers and an example of government overreach.
The new standards will save almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, preventing more than 710 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by midcentury, the Biden administration said.
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The highway safety agency said it has sought to line up its regulations so they match new Environmental Protection Agency rules that tighten standards for tailpipe emissions. But if there are discrepancies, automakers likely will have to follow the most stringent regulation.
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Fuel economy figures used by The Associated Press reflect real-world driving conditions that include factors such as wind resistance, hills and use of air-conditioning. Because of those factors, the real-world numbers are lower than mileage figures put forward by NHTSA.
New passenger cars would have to average nearly 49 miles per gallon in 2031 under the new rule, up from about 36.5 miles per gallon this year.
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John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a leading industry group, said the Biden administration “appears to have landed on a CAFE rule that works with the other recent federal tailpipe rules.’' Bozzella was using an acronym for the fuel standards, which are officially known as the corporate average fuel economy rules.
Dan Becker at the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, slammed the new rules as inadequate.
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The mileage standards are “a relic of the 1970s,″ Bozzella said, “a policy to promote energy conservation and energy independence by making internal combustion vehicles more efficient. But those vehicles are already very efficient. And EVs don’t combust anything. They don’t even have a tailpipe.″ READ MORE
Excerpt from U.S. Department of Transportation: New standards will save Americans hundreds of dollars at the pump over the lifetime of their vehicles
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today issued new vehicle fuel economy standards that will save Americans more than $23 billion in fuel costs while reducing pollution. This rule is in accordance with continuous energy security efforts that date back to the 1970s, when the average vehicle got about 13 miles to the gallon.
In this final rule, fuel economy will increase 2% per year for model years 2027-2031 for passenger cars, while light trucks will increase 2% per year for model years 2029-2031. These increases will bring the average light-duty vehicle fuel economy up to approximately 50.4 miles per gallon by model year 2031, saving passenger car and light truck owners more than $600 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles
Heavy-duty pickup truck and van fuel efficiency will increase 10% per year for model years 2030-2032 and 8% per year for model years 2033-2035. This will result in a fleetwide average of approximately 35 miles per gallon by model year 2035, saving heavy-duty pickup and van owners more than $700 in fuel over the lifetime of their vehicles.
“Not only will these new standards save Americans money at the pump every time they fill up, they will also decrease harmful pollution and make America less reliant on foreign oil,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “These standards will save car owners more than $600 in gasoline costs over the lifetime of their vehicle.”
These improved standards will save almost 70 billion gallons of gasoline through 2050, preventing more than 710 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
“President Biden’s economic and climate agenda has catalyzed an American clean energy and manufacturing boom,” said President Biden’s National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi. “From day one, the President has centered America’s workers, and unions that built our middle class, in this transformative agenda, positioning the U.S. auto sector as a leader in the world. The President’s agenda is working. On factory floors across the nation, our autoworkers are making cars and trucks that give American drivers more choices today than ever before. These fuel economy standards, rigorously aligned with our investments and standards across the federal government, deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration’s promise to build on this momentum and continue to spur job creation, and move faster and faster to tackle the climate crisis.”
“When Congress established the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program in the 1970s, the average vehicle got about 13 miles to the gallon. Under these new standards, the average light-duty vehicle will achieve nearly four times that at 50 miles per gallon,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said. “These new fuel economy standards will save our nation billions of dollars, help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and make our air cleaner for everyone. Americans will enjoy the benefits of this rule for decades to come.”
The agency engaged with a broad set of stakeholders while crafting the final rule, including consumers, unions, automakers, states, environmental advocates, and others.
NHTSA’s new fuel economy standards complement the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards for similar vehicle fleets. NHTSA worked closely with the EPA to optimize the effectiveness of its standards while minimizing compliance costs, consistent with applicable statutory factors.
The final rule sets increased standards that are consistent with Congress’ direction to conserve fuel and promote American energy independence and American automotive manufacturing, while providing flexibility to industry on how to achieve those targets. Though NHTSA does not consider electric and other alternative fuels when setting standards, manufacturers may use all available technologies – including advanced internal combustion engines, hybrid technologies and electric vehicles – for compliance.
Passenger cars are generally sedans, station wagons, and two-wheel drive crossovers and SUVs, while light trucks are generally four-wheel drive SUVs, pickups, minivans, and passenger/cargo vans. Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans are generally Class 2b/3 work trucks, fleet SUVs, work vans, and cutaway chassis-cab vehicles.
For more information, please see NHTSA’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy page. READ MORE
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