The EPA said the requirements will be “the most ambitious greenhouse gas standards ever set for the US light commercial vehicle sector” by 2026.
“The ultimate rule for light commercial vehicles reflects the core principles of this government: we’ve followed the science, we’ve listened to stakeholders, and we are setting robust and stringent standards that will aggressively reduce pollution, harm people and our planet, and save families money at the same time, “EPO Administrator Michael S. Regan said in a statement.
Emissions standards for model year 2023 through 2026 will be raised by 5 to 10% each year, reaching 40 miles per gallon on a 2026 model year emissions sticker – what consumers see on a new car. The new 40-mile-per-gallon standard is a slight increase from the 38.2 mpg for 2026 vehicles that the EPA first proposed in August.
UAW President Ray Curry praised the new rules, calling them “a win-win for UAW members, US manufacturing workers and our environment.”
“Well-designed regulations, like today’s emissions regulations from the Biden Administration, will encourage long-term US investment while protecting and expanding well-paying union jobs in vehicle manufacturing and advanced technologies that give manufacturers the flexibility to meet these standards. “Said Curry.
The Trump-era lower emissions standards, known as SAFE standards, were a rollback of the Obama administration’s regulations on automobiles and would have only increased to 32 mpg in the 2026 mileage year. The new standards are also an increase in the Obama EPA regulations that would have brought cars and trucks to 36 mpg.
The regulation will be published in the federal register at the end of the year and will come into force 60 days later. The EPA is also starting work on stricter fuel standards for mileage year 2027 and beyond.
“We have declined and lost a lot of momentum under President Trump,” said Margo Oge, chairman of the International Council on Clean Traffic and a former Obama-EPA official who helped draft this administration’s emissions regulations. “These standards will bring the country back to the top, but we still have so much to do.”
According to an agency leaflet, the new standards will prevent 3.1 billion tons of CO2 emissions from being pumped into the atmosphere, which will warm the planet, cut US gasoline consumption by 360 billion gallons and save US consumers money at the pump.
The EPA also said the new rule would help shift the U.S. auto market towards electric vehicles, which currently make up a tiny fraction of the cars Americans drive. According to the EPA estimate, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids accounted for only 2% of US vehicle production in 2020. The agency said the new final rule could bring electric cars to 17% market share by mileage year 2026.
John Bozzella, President and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said in a statement that the organization “strives to achieve a cleaner, safer, smarter future,” but that industry-government collaboration will be needed to to meet the new requirements standards.
“Achieving the goals of this final rule clearly requires supportive government action – including consumer incentives, significant infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for US manufacturing and supply chain development,” said Bozzella.
Raising fuel economy standards is an important part of President Joe Biden’s overall climate agenda. Emissions from traffic account for nearly 30% of total US greenhouse gas emissions – most of the total.
The new rules go hand in hand with Biden’s ambitions to move to zero-emission vehicles and “will literally save American consumers hundreds of billions of billions in fuel,” Ali Zaidi, deputy national climate adviser, said in a statement. “It’s part of a bigger win-win playbook for our consumers, workers and the environment.”
In August, Biden announced the goal that by 2030 half of the vehicles sold in the US should be battery-electric, fuel-cell-electric or plug-in hybrids. That goal hit a roadblock this weekend when West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin announced he was opposed to Biden’s Build Back Better bill, which includes $ 320 billion in clean energy and electric vehicle tax credits.
Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement the new rules were “Biden’s best chance to keep his promise to protect us from the existential threat of global warming,” but they are not strong enough.
“Before this presidential term ends, the government must enact long-term standards that are strong enough to usher in the age of electric vehicles,” said Becker. “You have to close the loopholes and force automakers to actually deliver electric vehicles instead of just making promises to make them.”
Electric vehicle tax credits are important in reducing the cost of electric vehicles and making them more accessible to middle- and low-income consumers. Another piece of Biden’s EV agenda – $ 7.5 billion for a national network of EV chargers – has already been passed as part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
“These financial incentives are very important,” said Oge. “You need both, you need federal standards, and you need incentives.”
This story has been updated with responses from automotive industry organizations.
