National Motorists Association Blog

By Lauren Fix

The new proposed requirements from the EPA implies that electric vehicles would make up greater than half of new-vehicle gross sales by the 2030 model year and two-thirds by 2032. It would mark a large leap from the present car markets. EVs currently account for 7% of U.S. light-vehicle registrations within the first quarter of this year, per Automotive News information.

The EPA in an announced that they “planned to post a response to comments in the docket for all comments, consistent with requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Clean Air Act.” The public remark interval for the proposal closed July 5. Comments are great but what is the reality.

Automakers are very concerned that they can’t meet the new government standards and leave them with billions of dollars in fines. How would that impact you the consumer, who might be buying a new car?

As of today, neither Biden nor his administration has referred to this new EPA regulation as a ban on gross sales of recent combustion engine autos by a specific date. However, the actions which might be underway in locations like California, New York and the European Union are not specifically stated.

The EPA’s proposal is designed to permit automakers to meet their fuel efficiency standards by requiring a number of pathways, including restricting combustion engine autos. It would require companies to install more emissions like gasoline particulate filters to scale back emissions and help reduce carbon dioxide.

So, what is the real deal? The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, CEO John Bozzella, argues the EPA’s proposed guidelines “cannot be met without substantially increasing the cost of all vehicles, reducing consumer choice and disadvantaging major portions of the U.S. population and territory.”

Additionally, the group stated the EPA “unrealistically assumes that an over-abundance of battery critical mineral mines, critical mineral processing capacity and battery component, cell and pack production facilities lead to continued battery price reductions.”

Bozzella argues the proposal underestimates the price of EV batteries, overestimates the provision of client and manufacturing tax credits that are within the Inflation Reduction Act and wrongly excludes plug-in hybrids and fuel cells from its projections.

He also stated the EPA proposal would require automakers to “eke out some incremental improvements by installing expensive new technology on all internal combustion engines,” whereas probably taking money away from investments in electrification. The EPA plans to sync up its proposal with the California Air Resources Board and NHTSA’s still-to-come gas economic system requirements which could make it even more difficult to meet the standards across the country. This would lead to more expensive new cars, people keeping their current cars longer and negatively impacting the economy for everyone.

“The next couple years are make or break,” he wrote. “The auto industry is making huge progress on electrification and continued improvements to internal combustion engine technology. Don’t toss it away now. Let’s come out of this process with a balanced, achievable and durable rule that maintains customer choice and doesn’t blunt America’s EV momentum.”

“If U.S. regulators and policymakers move too fast on EV mandates over the next several years, I predict China gains a stronger foothold in America’s EV battery supply chain and eventually our automotive market,” he stated in a post put up earlier this month.

The bottom line is this would destroy our US Auto industry for all brands not just ones based here. It would hurt the unions, workers at all plants, dealers, suppliers and impact the economy in a very negative way. Will the EPA listen? We are miles apart from what the government wants to reality.