President Biden signed new legislation propelling the U.S. electric vehicle transition.
“The great American road trip is going to be fully electrified, whether you’re driving along the coast, or on I-75 here in Michigan,” he declared as the first North American International
Auto Show. This new bill will bring a huge change in Global Warming. Other countries, including the EU and China, are moving faster toward adopting EVs. In the US, California has already proposed that zero-emissions vehicles make up 70% of new car sales by 2030, and 17 other states plan to follow California’s lead. Electrifying transportation is a major component of how the Biden administration plans to tackle climate change. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gases in the US. Cars and light trucks account for 60 percent of these emissions.
The question is, is America ready to make the switch from gas to EVs? Electric Vehicles are still more expensive than gas-powered cars and a recent poll has shown that not many grasp the climate benefits of switching to EVs. Transportation is the biggest source of planet-warming pollution in the US, and light duty vehicles – the average cars Americans drive – account for 58% of those emissions. Automakers know electrification is the future and “they want to be part of the narrative and early adopters,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.com. “Nobody wants to be seen as being behind or as the dinosaur that will be out of business in 20 years,” she added. Still, even with the electric focus, no companies introduced a new EV, and Chevrolet, the company with the most EVs on the floor in Detroit, instead rolled out its massive new luxury gas-guzzling Tahoe SUV.
The EPA will offer a range of options that the agency can select after a public comment period, the officials said. They asked not to be identified because the proposal hasn’t been made public. The proposed regulation isn’t expected to become final until next year.
Environmental groups are applauding the ambitious numbers, which were first reported over the weekend by The New York Times. But the plan is likely to get strong pushback from the auto industry, which pledged in August 2021 to make EVs half of U.S. new car sales by 2030 as it moves toward a history-making transition away from internal combustion engines.
The EPA will offer a range of options that the agency can select after a public comment period, the officials said. They asked not to be identified because the proposal hasn’t been made public. The proposed regulation isn’t expected to become final until next year.
Environmental groups are applauding the ambitious numbers, which were first reported over the weekend by The New York Times. But the plan is likely to get strong pushback from the auto industry, which pledged in August 2021 to make EVs half of U.S. new car sales by 2030 as it moves toward a history-making transition away from internal combustion engines.
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