The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently unveiled new federal emissions standards to curb harmful air pollution and accelerate America’s transition to electric vehicles (EVs).

The EPA’s proposed rules would have three phases of implementation, targeting emissions standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles manufactured in 2027 and beyond, according to the agency’s April 12 news statement.

Together, these proposed standards would reportedly avoid nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions and other harmful air pollution, and reduce America’s reliance on approximately 20 billion barrels of oil imports, according to the EPA.

At the same time, the agency claims the new standards “would lower maintenance costs and deliver significant fuel savings for drivers and truck operators.”

“By proposing the most ambitious pollution standards ever for cars and trucks, we are delivering on the Biden-Harris Administration’s promise to protect people and the planet, securing critical reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution and ensuring significant economic benefits like lower fuel and maintenance costs for families,” EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan said.

As part of the proposed emission standards, over half of new vehicles sold in the U.S. would need to be electric by 2030, with an even higher percentage required by 2032. These proposed requirements build on President Biden’s 2021 executive order, which requires 50% of new vehicles sold in 2030 to be zero-emissions.

“This is a future for everyone, and we’re starting to see all of the auto industry move in this direction,” Regan told CNN.

Proposal one will begin with multi-pollutant emissions standards for the model year 2027 and later light-duty and medium-duty vehicles. Proposal two will target greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles, according to the EPA.

Given current EV trends, White House officials and the EPA believe reaching 50% of EV production by 2030 is a sensible objective. At the start of 2023, EV sales made up a little more than 7% of total car sales, a 74% increase from the same period in 2022, according to reporting from InsideEVs.

Still, a robust infrastructure would need to be developed to make a zero-emissions transportation future and the mass adoption of electric vehicles possible, an EPA spokesperson told The Dallas Express via email.

“We considered future infrastructure needs and costs in developing our proposed standards, and the magnitude of our standards reflects our analysis of the feasibility of needed infrastructure with the future growth of clean vehicle technology. Significant investment is already underway from both the private and public sector,” the spokesperson said.

“Although we [the EPA] anticipate that most electric vehicle owners will typically charge at home, as electric vehicles increase in market share, the public charging network will be an important additional resource to allow drivers without home charging, and those on long trips, to meet their daily driving needs with an electric vehicle,” an EPA spokesperson told The Dallas Express.

While the Biden administration wants all Americans to transition to clean energy vehicles, the average price of an EV sold in the U.S. was $58,385 in February. For comparison, Kelly Blue Book places the average cost of a gas-powered vehicle at $48,763, a roughly $10,000 difference in the vehicle’s base price in February.

EV tax credits are available to attract new buyers and reduce out-of-pocket costs. However, accelerating consumer demand for EVs might be more difficult for the Biden administration following the Treasury Department’s new requirements to reduce the federal tax credits available for qualifying EVs.

Tax credits for EVs will be reduced starting April 18, following new requirements from the U.S. Treasury Department, according to the IRS.

Before the upcoming April 18 changes listed on the IRS website, EVs manufactured in the U.S. were eligible for a $7,500 tax credit, while used EVs received around $4,000 in tax credit.

Benefits of the federal emission standard supposedly exceeded costs by at least $1 trillion, according to the EPA.

Other purported benefits claimed by the EPA include:

 

• Avoiding nearly 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions (equivalent to more than twice the total U.S. CO2 emissions in 2022) through 2055.
• Reduce oil imports by approximately 20 billion barrels and other harmful air pollution that leads to premature deaths, hospital admissions, and respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.
• Save the average consumer $12,000 over the lifetime of a light-duty vehicle, compared to a vehicle not subject to the new standards.