US President-elect Donald Trump is expected to overturn California’s ban on new petrol and diesel light-duty vehicles entering showrooms by 2035, just months after the proposal was approved.
In August 2022, California proposed a ban on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. About 50% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions and 80% of air pollutants come from transportation.
While plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are exempt from the ban, they must be able to drive 80 kilometers in the real world on pure electric power and account for no more than 20% of the brand’s total sales. The remaining vehicles must be electric vehicles (EVs).
The proposal was finally approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week, and the framework will be adopted by 11 other states, including New York.
Hundreds of new car deals available via car expert Now. Get the experts on your side and get big rewards. Browse now.
That situation may be short-lived, however, as Trump has been critical of the outgoing Biden administration’s vehicle policies, claiming he would revoke any EPA approvals granted to California.
This includes scrapping federal tax credits for electric vehicles worth up to US$7500 (AU$11,625) and cutting off support for charging stations, instead sending funds to “defense supply chains and critical infrastructure”.
Trump also reportedly plans to restore the EPA’s emissions and fuel economy standards to 2019 levels, undoing the government’s recent work.
The EPA’s goal is for electric vehicles to account for 35% to 56% of new-vehicle market sales by 2032, but that’s not a mandate or requirement, but rather an outline of what automakers need to do to meet broader emissions regulations across their fleets. .
This target was previously as high as 67%, but fell back in April this year as demand for electric vehicles cooled.
On the eve of the US election, Trump falsely claimed that the US government had regulations requiring 100% electric vehicle sales and promised to repeal these regulations if he was elected.
last week, Reuters According to reports, if the 2019 emissions regulations are reinstated, average vehicle emissions will increase by approximately 25% compared to the 2025 regulations, while fuel consumption will increase by up to 15%.
John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. automakers lobby group, criticized California’s ICE ban and said he expected “President Trump to revoke this exemption in 2025.”
“We have said that the United States should have a single national standard to reduce carbon emissions from transportation, but the question of whether California has the authority to create a vehicle emissions program and other states to follow it is ultimately a matter for policymakers to consider and the courts to consider. to solve.
“Our concerns are: First, California’s Advanced Clean Vehicles II is a de facto electrification sales mandate and ultimately bans the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles.
“Second, most states after California are not ready to meet these requirements. It will take a miracle to achieve the sales mandate under the current market realities. A balance needs to be struck and some states should withdraw from the program.
“Third, automakers can produce electric vehicles, but there’s a huge gap between those EV sales requirements and the (reasonable) expectation that customers can still choose which car to drive.”
California’s ICE ban proposal previously would have included hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEVs) in more than 10% of new vehicle sales by 2035, but sales of the niche technology have been declining.
In the first half of last year, Los Angeles Times The report stated that FCEV sales this year were 1,765 units, with a total of 2,968 units. In the first half of this year, this number has shrunk to 298 vehicles.
The publication attributed the decline to the stalling of California’s hydrogen rollout plan, which is now well behind its original plan to have 200 hydrogen refueling stations up and running by 2025.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.