Biden administration speeds transition to electric vehicles

The nation’s slow transition to electric vehicles got a boost Wednesday when the Biden administration announced it had finalized the strongest-ever pollution standards for cars and light trucks.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule, which would begin taking effect in model year 2027, would require car manufacturers to increase sales of electric vehicles while cutting carbon emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles.

EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said during a news conference the rules mark the “strongest vehicle pollution technology standard ever finalized in United States history.”

“These technology standards for model years 2027 through 2032 will avoid more than 7 billion tons of carbon pollution,” Regan said. “That’s four times the total carbon pollution from the entire transportation in the year 2021. Cleaner vehicles and lower emissions mean so much to the people across this country.”

Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and California. The new EPA standards would represent a nearly 50% reduction in average projected greenhouse gas emissions levels for light-duty vehicles and a 44% reduction for medium duty-vehicles, the agency said in a statement.

The rules are also expected to reduce health-damaging soot emissions from gas cars by more than 95% — a move that could improve air quality in cities like Los Angeles, where many homes are built near freeways.

In many ways, the federal rules follow the lead of California, which has been a pioneer in efforts to eliminate reliance on gas-powered cars. In 2022, regulators announced they would halt the sale of new gas cars in the state by 2035.

A contingent of 12 states and Washington, D.C., have chosen to adhere to California’s more stringent rules. Those communities, plus California, make up roughly 33% of nation’s new car registrations, according to state officials.

American Lung Assn. President and CEO Harold Wimmer applauded the Biden administration’s move as a “critical step to address climate change and reduce air pollution.” Still, Wimmer said the EPA has more work to do to reduce emissions, particularly from heavy-duty vehicles including freight trucks and buses.

When soot, or fine particulate matter, is inhaled, the microscopic pollution not only aggravates the lungs and raises the risk of developing respiratory disease, it can travel into the bloodstream where it can trigger stroke or heart attack.

“Trucks represent a small fraction of total on-road vehicles but generate the greatest share of harmful air pollutants,” Wimmer said. “Reducing emissions from both cars and trucks is critical to improving public health, advancing health equity and addressing climate change.”

The EPA rule does not ban internal combustion engine vehicles. While the rule is expected to increase electric vehicle sales nationally, car manufactures have autonomy in deciding how they plan to meet the reduced emission standards. They can also achieve the standards by selling more hybrid cars or improving the efficiency of gas-powered engines.

The final rule also gives car manufacturers a slower phase-in of pollution limits than the EPA had proposed last year. The agency projected last year that the more ambitious rule could lead to 67% of new passenger cars sold in the U.S. being electric by 2032.

John Bozzella, president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said while automakers are committed to transitioning to electric vehicles, the pace at which it happens is critical for those companies.

“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,” he said. “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.”

Zero-emission cars represent about 7% of vehicles sold today, up from nearly 6% in 2022 and just over 3% in 2021. They remain the fastest-growing car sales category, according to Kelley Blue Book.

In California, electric vehicle sales dropped significantly for the first time in more than a decade during the last half of 2023, a phenomenon experts attributed in part to unreliable charging technology and higher prices for zero-emission vehicles.

Amanda Leland, the executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund, said during a news conference that the step taken by the EPA will cut air pollution and bring more choices and savings to consumers.

“The future is electric built on a shared pollution-free vision grounded in economic prosperity, job growth and consumer savings,” she said. “So today we continue on our journey for a better, healthier world.”

Due to its historic air pollution woes, California is the only state that can adopt its own vehicle emissions standards, with federal approval.

Last year, California air regulators adopted new rules that would eventually phase out heavy-duty trucks and locomotives that burn fossil fuels. But Biden’s EPA has yet to sign off on those waivers to make those rules effective.

As a result, the implementation of the state’s truck rule has been delayed. Starting in January, it would’ve prohibited the registration of new gas- and diesel-fired cargo trucks at California ports and railyards. That would’ve effectively ensured all new heavy-duty vehicles taking part in the state’s bustling goods movement were zero-emission vehicles.