© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A car exhaust in New York, U.S., August 2, 2018. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/FILE PHOTO
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden's administration intends to relax limits on tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gasoline-powered cars to electric vehicles, the New York reported. Times, citing people familiar with the plan.
The administration would give automakers more time rather than require them to rapidly increase sales of electric vehicles in the coming years, the report said, adding that the new rule could be released as early as spring.
The change would mean that electric vehicle sales would not need to increase sharply until after 2030.
John Bozzella, president and CEO of auto industry trade group Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI), said Sunday that the next three to four years are critical for the development of the electric vehicle market.
“Give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up, maintain customer ability to choose, allow more public positions to come online, let industrial credits and the Inflation Reduction Act do their thing and impact industrial change,” Bozzella said.
Reuters previously reported that the White House could enact regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency as soon as March that would require dramatic reductions in tailpipe emissions. The administration's proposal would require increasing U.S. electric vehicle market share to 67% by 2032 from less than 8% in 2023.
General Motors (NYSE , Ford (NYSE ) and Stellantis (NYSE ), the US-based European parent of Ram and Jeep, have warned that they cannot profitably transition their US heavy-duty truck fleets so quickly, according to a Reuters report, analysis of automakers' sales data and a review of comments to regulators.
Automakers and the AAI have urged the Biden administration to curb the proposed increase in electric vehicle sales. They have said that electric vehicle technology remains too expensive for many American consumers and that more time is needed to develop charging infrastructure.
