The U.S. government’s most ambitious plan ever to slash planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicles is facing skepticism both about how realistic it is and whether it goes far enough, according to the Associated Press.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April announced new strict emissions limits that the agency says are vital to slowing climate change as people around the globe endure record-high temperatures, wildfires, and intense storms.
The EPA says the industry could meet the limits if 67% of new-vehicle sales are electric by 2032, a pace the auto industry calls unrealistic. However, the new rule would not require automakers to boost electric vehicle (EV) sales directly. Instead, it sets emissions limits and allows automakers to choose how to meet them.
Even if the industry boosts EV sales to the level the EPA recommends, any reduction in pollution could prove more modest than the agency expects. The Associated Press has estimated that nearly 80% of vehicles being driven in the U.S. — more than 200 million — would still run on gasoline or diesel fuel.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group that represents companies such as General Motors, Ford, and Toyota that make most new vehicles sold in the United States, argues the EPA standards are “neither reasonable nor achievable in the time frame covered.”
The alliance says the agency is underestimating the cost and difficulty of making EV batteries, including short supplies of critical minerals that also are used in laptops, cellphones, and other items. Sizable gaps in the charging network for long-distance travel and for people living in apartments pose another obstacle.
Though automakers continue to downsize engines and produce more efficient transmissions, the alliance says they need to use their limited resources more on producing EVs than on developing more fuel-efficient technology for gas-powered engines.
