EPA Issues Strong Proposed Emissions Mandates for Light-Duty Vehicles

The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed new and very aggressive emissions regulations for new light-duty vehicle model years 2027-2032. These proposals go well beyond anything this or prior administrations have announced or targeted in the past and would effectively require 2/3 of all new vehicles sold in 2032 to be EVs.

America’s franchised new-car dealers remain all-in on EVs. During the comment period, NADA will explain everything that dealers are doing to get ready for widespread and mass-market EV adoption, including the substantial investments already made – and the billions of coming investments – in tools, training, and equipment necessary to facilitate a first-tier education, sales and service experience for EV customers across the entire market and price-point spectrum.

NADA will also explain how emissions mandates that go too far too fast are concerning in that they:

• decrease the affordability and thereby actually risk slowing the sale of new clean vehicles including EVs, particularly among first-time EV buyers and buyers in lower income tiers; 

• could put the significant investments that dealers and automakers have made in EVs at risk, which would only result in additional constraints on EV development, deployment, and consumer adoption; and

• cannot be expected to foster meaningful growth in EV adoption unless part of a broader, unified strategy that considers the vital importance of consumer incentives, charging infrastructure, utility capacity, resources for battery manufacturing, and the availability to consumers across the country of these newly-produced electric vehicles themselves – just to name a few critical factors.

In the end – and regardless of the stringency or feasibility of the final regulations – one thing is already clear: Dealers will be more essential than ever in helping America embrace EVs and get us to the adoption percentages that the administration is pursuing.