Biden issues executive order targeting 50% combined BEV, PHEV, FCEV sales share in 2030
06 August 2021
President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) that sets a goal that 50% of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel-cell-electric vehicles.
The EO also directs the EPA to begin working on a rulemaking to establish new new multi-pollutant emissions standards, including for greenhouse gas emissions, for light- and medium-duty vehicles beginning with model year 2027 and extending through and including at least model year 2030. The EPA has issued its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for the MY 2024-2026 standards. (Earlier post.)
EPA is also to begin work on a rulemaking under the Clean Air Act to establish new NOx standards for heavy-duty engines and vehicles beginning with model year 2027 and extending through and including at least model year 2030. The agency is also to update the existing greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty engines and vehicles beginning with model year 2027 and extending through and including at least model year 2029.
The EPA is also to work on a rulemaking to establish new greenhouse gas emissions standards for heavy-duty engines and vehicles to begin as soon as model year 2030.
The EO also directs the USDOT to begin working on new fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks beginning with model year 2027 and extending through and including at least model year 2030. (Earlier post.)
USDOT’s NHTSA is also to begin working on a rulemaking to establish new fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans beginning with model year 2028 and extending through and including at least model year 2030.
NHTSA is also to begin work on a rulemaking to establish new fuel efficiency standards for medium- and heavy-duty engines and vehicles to begin as soon as model year 2030.
EPA is to coordinate its activities with California on the regulations.
Hopefully the regulations will address the massive loophole which light trucks used instead of cars represent in the US.
Those who live there will be better able to tell us how it works, as I have not looked at it in detail, but my understanding is that it has evaded fuel consumption and pollution targets.
Posted by: Davemart | 06 August 2021 at 01:12 AM
Sequestering coal fired power plants is like taking of half the cars off the road
Posted by: SJC | 06 August 2021 at 10:49 AM
Why are efficient hybrids always ignored? We could reduce emissions by half RIGHT NOW by chooseing Escape/RAV4/CR-V Hibrid over Chevrolet Tahoe, for example. Or a Camry Hybrid over some similarly-powered pure-ICE mid-size sedans. You'd give up very little to make this transition.
Posted by: pdd | 08 August 2021 at 06:22 AM
pdd
I agree
Posted by: SJC | 08 August 2021 at 07:51 AM
@pdd
The time for the somewhat fuel efficient hybrids has come and gone. What was smart 2 decades ago is no longer that smart. Yes, a RAV4 is more efficient than a Tahoe although they are not similar vehicles. But the real question is a Camry Hybrid even close to a Chevy Bolt or for that matter is a RAV4 even close to a Ford F-150 Lightening? Maybe you should compare the Tahoe at EPA 15/20 with the Toyota Sequoia at EPA 13/17. And the worse 1/2 pickup in terms of mileage is the Toyota Tundra.
Posted by: sd | 08 August 2021 at 10:33 AM
@sd
"The time for the somewhat fuel efficient hybrids has come and gone. "
As long as pure-ICE vehicles make up majority of the new vehicles on the market, the time hasn't gone. This transition should happen ASAP. It doesn't mean we stop developing PHEVs EVs and FCVs.
Posted by: pdd | 08 August 2021 at 02:37 PM
@pdd
You can not get to zero emissions by selling cars that are not zero emission. We are already faced with the problem that even after the last internal combustion car is sold, we will have IC cars on the road for another 15 - 20 years unless they are either banned or become prohibitively expensive to operate.
You need to read:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/climate/toyota-electric-hydrogen.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
If you can not read the article, the title and first sentence should give you a flavor:
"Toyota Led on Clean Cars. Now Critics Say It Works to Delay Them."
"The auto giant bet on hydrogen power, but as the world moves toward electric the company is fighting climate regulations in an apparent effort to buy time."
Hopefully, all of the car sold in the US will be zero emission by 2035. I am somewhat disappointed that PHEVs that were included in Biden's zero emission vehicles. I am not sure of what the specifications are for a PHEV to be considered in this category but I would like to think that it would have to be at least 50-60 miles on the battery alone.
When the last mass produced gas guzzler is sold in the US, it will probably be a Toyota.
Posted by: sd | 08 August 2021 at 07:18 PM
@sd
We have the same aim but different approaches. I think getting pure-ICE vehicles off of new car dealer lots ASAP is the most impactful thing we could do for the planet in the short term. We have the technology and the resources to accomplish this today. Despite the emergence of EVs and PHEVs, petroleum use in the US (and around the world) is not decreasing. Pause to think about that for a second. The impact of a few EVs is being negated by the impact of increasing size of vehicles. We could have made a serious dent simply by replacing all pure-ICE vehicles with hybrids quickly. THEN work on banning combustion engines! Your plan calls for 20-mpg cars to continue to hit the market for years to come.
Just as there is an opportunity to clean up the electric grid after the purchase of an EV, there is also an opportunity to improve carbon intensity of petrol/diesel once an ICE car hits the market. Renewable fuels will be an important piece of the puzzle to solving the crisis.
Posted by: pdd | 09 August 2021 at 08:05 AM
I would rather have hybrid pickups than guzzlers
Posted by: SJC | 09 August 2021 at 09:13 AM
@SJC,
OK, but I would rather have the new Battery Electric Ford F-150 Lightening than the F-150 Hybrid. Apparently they have over 120,000 reservations for the new Lightening and I would think that any contractor that can do math will quickly figure out how much cheaper it is to own the battery electric version.
Posted by: sd | 09 August 2021 at 10:20 AM
@pdd,
You stated: "there is also an opportunity to improve carbon intensity of petrol/diesel once an ICE car hits the market. Renewable fuels will be an important piece of the puzzle to solving the crisis."
That is definitely true for Class 8 trucks. Read these two articles:
https://www.fleetmaintenance.com/equipment/battery-and-electrical/blog/21073166/behind-the-wheel-of-a-class-8-hybridelectric-and-a-fully-electric-medium-duty-delivery-truck
and
https://www.truckinginfo.com/10143724/renewable-diesel-biodiesel-california.
If you are towing, a hybrid truck or better a plug-in hybrid (Ford makes a good hybrid truck and Toyota does not.)
However, for all other vehicles BEV will work.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 09 August 2021 at 10:25 AM
@pdd
I believe that fuel usage actually decreased last year but how much of it will come back is not clear. More people will continue to work from home.
I think that the sales of BEVs will hit a tipping point when people realize that they are more reliable, easier to drive, and just cheaper to own. Hopefully this will happen before 2030. GM and Ford along with others are supposed to have many new electric models by 2025.
Posted by: sd | 09 August 2021 at 10:31 AM
What is most likely to happen that does the most good
Posted by: SJC | 10 August 2021 at 10:50 AM