General Motors and the Environmental Defense Fund earlier this week announced jointly developed recommendations aimed at making all new passenger vehicles electric by the middle of the next decade.
In a press release, GM and EDF asked the EPA to develop emissions standards requiring that at least 50% of new passenger vehicles sold be zero emissions by 2030, with a reduction 60% of greenhouse gas emissions by model year 2030.
Beyond that, GM and EDF are calling for “dramatically reducing nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, consistent with eliminating tailpipe pollution from new passenger cars by 2035.” This matches GM’s “aspiration” announced in 2021… but if it’s written in the regulations, it’s a new level of commitment.
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The wording leaves room for certain vehicles, like heavy-duty pickup trucks, to remain internal combustion-powered, but it would still represent a massive change for the auto industry.
GM has already offered aggressive EV targets to regulators –in 2020with a mixed reception from Washington.
This time, GM and EDF are asking the EPA to come up with new standards before the end of this year and have them finalized by the fall of 2023. They would then come into effect for the 2027 model year and will would extend at least through calendar year 2032, but ideally through 2035, GM and EDF said.
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In April, the APE rules finalized until 2026, although it was expected that the rules would then only require about 17% electric vehicles for the US market. Thus, the GM/EDF recommendations call for a very strong increase in EV sales.
California has already exceeded 15% Electric vehicle sales at certain times and have their own individual goal of essentially eliminating all new vehicles with a tailpipe that also don’t have a plug by 2035. But California is expected to have some difficulty in achieve this goal – and other states lag far behind.