Biden Administration Follows California's Lead On Electric Vehicles

By Ria Roebuck Joseph | The Center Square contributor, The Center Square California

April 13, 2023

(The Center Square) - “This is a great day for America as our country, under the leadership of President Biden, charts a new course for a zero emissions future,” said Governor Newsom referencing the new federal emissions standards proposed by the U.S. EPA.

Under the Biden administration, the two new proposals for emissions standards announced today cover Heavy-duty vehicles, and light- and medium-duty vehicles emission standards for 2027 and beyond.

The proposal builds upon EPA’s final standards for federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for passenger cars and light trucks for model years 2023 through 2026.

Newsom is excited about the administration’s announcement releasing a statement of his own saying, ‘The standards… would effectively require a majority of all cars sold in the U.S. to be zero emissions vehicles by 2032, and if adopted, they would be the most stringent federal tailpipe requirements in history. “

The new proposed emissions standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles for model year 2027 and beyond promises to reduce climate and other harmful air pollution.

The EPA anticipates that with the requirements, electric vehicles (EVs) could account for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales in 2032.

The first set of proposed standards announced today, the “Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium Duty Vehicles,” leverages advances in clean car technology to further reduce both climate pollution and smog- and soot-forming emissions while retaining current EPA standards for light-duty vehicles in effect until 2026.

California’s plan to require nearly half of all new heavy-duty trucks be zero emissions by 2035 got the nod from the EPA last month.

For the car industry the EPA standards are expected to drive widespread use of filters to reduce gasoline particulate matter emissions and spur greater deployment of CO2-reducing technologies for gasoline-powered vehicles.

The second set of proposed standards announced today, the “Greenhouse Gas Standards for Heavy-Duty Vehicles - Phase 3,” would apply 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. These standards would complement the criteria pollutant standards for model year 2027 and beyond heavy-duty vehicles that EPA finalized in December 2022 and represent the third phase of EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan.

“The proposed standards align with commitments made by automakers and U.S. states as they plan to accelerate clean vehicle technologies in the light- and medium-duty fleets in the next 10 to 15 years. Car and truck companies are moving to include electric vehicles as an integral and growing part of current and future product lines, leading to an increasing diversity of clean vehicles for consumers,” the EPA announced.

As consumer demand for electric vehicles grows with the increasing stringent standards, the push for EVs meeting the standards and needing charging stations require technologies to advance at an equal speed. EV battery costs, which drive up the price of EVs, are expected to decline.

The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program to install charging stations throughout the states has a budget of $7.5 million. California expects to receive $384 million of federal funding from that pool.

The California Energy Commission’s approval of a $2.9 billion investment plan last winter, accelerates California’s 2025 electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling goals.

The California Air Resources Board directed 70% of a $2.6 billion investment plan in ZEV projects toward disadvantaged and low-income communities, the largest investment of its kind.

“We’re proud of our work here in California that has made our state the national leader in ZEV sales – and now we stand ready to work together to lead the most significant economic transformation since the Industrial Revolution,” Newsom said.

The EPA’s proposals are informed by robust and inclusive stakeholder engagement with industry, labor, advocates, and community leaders, while the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program secured investment commitments of over $100 billion from private companies to make more EVs.

California requires all new car sales to be ZEVs by 2035.

The focus of the work of The Center Square California is state and local-level government and economic reporting that approaches stories with a taxpayer sensibility.