Back in April 2023, GM Authority reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a set of strict vehicle emissions standards for vehicles produced between the upcoming 2027 through 2032 model years. Now, the EPA has sent these proposed fuel economy standards to the White House for review.
According to a report from Reuters, the EPA proposals include a 56-percent reduction in projected fleet average emissions in comparison to the 2026 model-year requirements. Upon ratification, this proposal could force automakers to allocate 60 percent of its production to EVs by 2030 and 67 percent by 2032 just to meet requirements.
As one may imagine, this has created quite the uproar from a number of major automakers – including General Motors – who have stated that these fuel economy standards are impossible to achieve in the proposed timeframe. In fact, if implemented, it’s possible that automakers could acquire up to $14 billion in fines, or $6.5 billion for GM alone.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation – which represents automakers like GM – has warned that the proposed regulations “could prematurely force abandonment of many internal combustion engine vehicles and their associated revenue.”
Of course, these proposed vehicle emissions standards are applauded by environmentalists and Tesla alike, with the latter going so far as to demand the Biden administration to adopt significantly stricter fuel economy standards than the more-stringent standards already proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
As a reminder, sales of all-electric vehicles hit a new record over the course of the 2023 calendar year with 1,189,051 units sold. This gives EVs a 7.6-percent share of the entire U.S. market, which is up from 5.9 percent in the 2022 calendar year.
However, some automakers are making efforts to slow down electric vehicle production amid lessening demand. In regard to General Motors, the Detroit-based automaker has abandoned its plans to produce 400,000 all-electric vehicles by mid-2024.
With that in mind, General Motors recently delayed production of the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV at the GM Lake Orion plant in Michigan for maintenance projects.
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