• by Tanya Gazdik , April 13, 2023

It’s been nothing but crickets when it comes to individual automakers reacting to the latest proposal from the Biden-Harris administration via the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency.

General Motors, which in September released a statement saying it wants to speed up the transition toward an electric vehicle future and urged the EPA to set standards requiring at least half of new vehicle sales involve those without tailpipe emissions by 2030, has not reacted to the current proposal.

The proposed standards would require a transition to electric vehicles even faster than what General Motors previously urged. General Motors has said it plans to launch 30 new all-electric models globally by mid-decade, with 40%  of the company’s U.S. models being battery electric by the end of 2025.

Depending on the compliance pathways manufacturers select to meet the standards, the EPA projects that EVs could account for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales in MY 2032.

Transportation groups have voiced some skepticism.

Currently new vehicles sold in the county remain predominately gas-powered, although automakers are rapidly expanding the number of electric vehicles for consumers to choose from.

Since President Biden took office, the number of EV sales has tripled, while the number of available models has doubled. There are over 130,000 public chargers across the country -- a 40% increase over 2020.

One hiccup is the prohibitive cost of even the cheapest electric vehicle, which has left many consumers with sticker shock. 

But the EPA claims that accelerating adoption of technologies that reduce fuel and maintenance costs alongside pollution would save the average consumer $12,000 over the lifetime of a light-duty vehicle, as compared to a vehicle that was not subject to the new standards.

The proposed standards would improve air quality for communities across the nation, especially communities that have borne the burden of polluted air. Together, these proposals would avoid nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to more than twice the total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2022.

A second set of proposed standards pertains to heavy-duty vocational vehicles such as delivery trucks, refuse haulers or dump trucks, public utility trucks, transit, shuttle, school buses) and trucks typically used to haul freight.

Like the light- and medium-duty proposal, the heavy-duty proposal uses performance-based standards that enable manufacturers to achieve compliance efficiently based on the composition of their fleets.  

The Clean Freight Coalition, which represents trucking carriers, manufacturers, and dealers in the move toward transportation emissions cuts, said that the EPA’s quick transition to zero-emission vehicle technology could have an adverse impact on the nation's already struggling supply chain.

“Ensuring a feasible transition to new technologies is our primary goal,” the coalition’s executive director, Jim Mullen, said in a release. “An adequate infrastructure, including the power grid and charging stations, and the sourcing of required minerals, are essential to the supply chain as part of the transition to a zero-emission future.”

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said the nation’s charging infrastructure network was not yet sufficient to support that increase in the number of heavy-duty commercial trucks. 

“Professional drivers are skeptical of EV costs, mileage range, battery weight and safety, charging time and availability," OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in a release. "It’s baffling that the EPA is pushing forward with more impractical emissions timelines without first addressing these overwhelming concerns with electric [commercial motor vehicles].” 

Organizations representing the interest of farmers including the National Farmers Union, the National Corn Grower’s Association and the American Farm Bureau Federation are also responding negatively to the proposal. 

“While we share share the administration’s’ goals of lowering emissions, we are frustrated that the EPA appears to be turning exclusively to electric vehicles to lower greenhouse emissions,” according to a statement from the National Corn Grower’s Association. “The limitations on raw materials, charging infrastructure, consumer preferences and other factors dictate the need for a wider range of options to immediately mitigate carbon emissions.” 

The proposal would effectively force automakers to produce more battery electric vehicles and strongly discourage them from pursuing other vehicle technologies that could achieve the same — or better — environmental performance at a lower cost to the U.S. economy and American families, adds Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper.

“We urge EPA to reconsider its proposal and instead adopt a technology-neutral approach that treats all low-carbon transportation options fairly and equally,” Cooper says in a release.