Automakers have complained that those new rules make it difficult to build EVs that currently qualify for tax credits. But they have spurred new mining, battery building and manufacturing projects in the US, the seedlings, the White House hopes, of a global auto industry driven by the US and not China.
Dave Cooke, a senior vehicle analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, says the EPA’s proposal builds on that previous policy to clarify what is expected of automakers as the U.S. tries to limit carbon emissions. “We gave them the carrot,” he says. “Here’s the stick.”
What does that mean for drivers? If the EPA’s strict new rules go into effect, Americans should see many more affordable electric vehicles on dealer lots over the next decade.
According to the auto industry group Alliance for Automotive Innovation, there are already 91 electric models on sale in the U.S. today and another 60 will be added in 2026. But the proposed EPA rules put heavy pressure on manufacturers to produce more, during a decade in which Decisive action will be crucial to meeting most of the companies’ lofty 2035 emissions pledges, said Chris Harto, senior energy policy analyst at the nonprofit consumer organization Consumer Reports.
Conveniently, there is evidence that motorists would like to see a wider variety of electric cars to choose from, says Harto. “Consumers want the vehicles, and automakers don’t provide them,” says Harto. The 2022 Consumer Reports survey of U.S. consumers found that 71 percent of adults have at least some interest in owning an electric car, an increase of 350 percent since 2020.
Many electric vehicles, including Ford’s Lightning pickup, Audi’s e-tron line, and Rivian’s R1T electric truck, have waiting lists of weeks to years. Amid the tight supply and tight demand, EVs sold through dealerships have been marked down by thousands of dollars. The average electric car is still more expensive to buy than its gas counterpart, though some auto industry experts predict they could reach cost par by the end of the year.
Less certain is whether the US is ready to supply and support a flood of new EVs. Supply chains, especially for critical battery minerals that are difficult to mine outside of China, will need more capacity. And even if the FBI doles out money for charging infrastructure, there are plenty of challenges that need to be solved before there are enough public chargers to support long-haul trips and allow people without private garages to charge. In many places, the electricity grid will need to be modernized or modified to power millions of cars.
Electrification “requires a massive, 100-year change of the U.S. industrial base and the way Americans drive,” the industry group Alliance for Automotive Innovation wrote in a memo earlier this month that struck a skeptical tone about the prospect of stricter EPA regulations. The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposed pollution rules.
The agency’s proposal will now be the subject of months of public hearings and debates, as environmentalists, auto lobbyists and anyone with a stake in one of the largest industries in the US weighs in.
