Automaker group says EPA's proposed vehicle emissions rules are unachievable

WASHINGTON — The Alliance for Automotive Innovation plans to tell the EPA that its proposal to significantly reduce vehicle emissions through the 2032 model year is "neither reasonable nor achievable in the timeframe provided."

The alliance, representing a broad swath of the U.S. auto industry including most automakers, said the proposed rule is "so stringent" that it is "a de facto battery-electric vehicle mandate," according to a memo released Wednesday.

The EPA in April unveiled its strictest-ever vehicle pollution standards for cars and light trucks for the 2027-32 model years, requiring 13 percent fleetwide average emission reductions each year and a 56 percent reduction in average emission target levels from the 2026 model year.

If finalized, the proposed standards could mean EVs would make up more than half of new-vehicle sales by the 2030 model year and two-thirds by 2032. It would mark a massive leap from the current market, with EVs accounting for 7 percent of U.S. light-vehicle registrations in the first quarter of this year, according to Automotive News data.

The EPA in a statement to Automotive News said it "plans to post a response to comments in the docket for all comments, consistent with ... requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Clean Air Act."

The public comment period for the proposal closes July 5.

Neither Biden nor his administration has called for a ban on sales of new combustion engine vehicles by a certain date — actions that are underway in places such as California and the European Union.

The EPA's proposal also does not mandate a specific technology such as EVs. Instead, it is designed to allow automakers to meet the performance-based requirements through multiple pathways, including efficiency improvements in internal combustion engine vehicles.

For example, the agency projects the standards will drive widespread use of gasoline particulate filters to reduce emissions and support using other carbon dioxide-reducing technologies.

However, the alliance argues the EPA's proposed rules "cannot be met without substantially increasing the cost of all vehicles, reducing consumer choice and disadvantaging major portions of the U.S. population and territory."

Additionally, the group said the EPA "unrealistically assumes … an over-abundance of battery critical mineral mines, critical mineral processing capacity and battery component, cell and pack production facilities lead to continued battery price reductions."

It also argues the proposal underestimates the cost of EV batteries, overestimates the availability of consumer and manufacturing tax credits such as those in the Inflation Reduction Act and wrongly excludes plug-in hybrids and fuel cells from its projections.

In a blog post published Wednesday, Alliance CEO John Bozzella said the EPA proposal would require automakers to "eke out some incremental improvements by installing expensive new technology on all internal combustion engines," while potentially taking capital away from investments in electrification.

Bozzella also called on the EPA to sync up its proposal with the California Air Resources Board and NHTSA's still-to-come fuel economy standards.

"The next couple years are make or break," he wrote. "The auto industry is making huge progress on electrification and continued improvements to internal combustion engine technology. Don't toss it away now. Let's come out of this process with a balanced, achievable and durable rule that maintains customer choice and doesn't blunt America's EV momentum."

The group's more detailed criticism comes after Bozzella told the EPA to "ease up and reassess" its proposal.

"If U.S. regulators and policymakers move too fast on EV mandates over the next several years, I predict China gains a stronger foothold in America's EV battery supply chain and eventually our automotive market," he said in a blog post earlier this month.