Biden Administration Set To Scale Back Ambitious Electric Vehicle Targets After Concerns Raised By UAW, Automakers: Report

The Biden administration is reportedly planning to relax the proposed annual targets for electric vehicle (EV) sales and tailpipe emissions through 2030.

What Happened: The Biden administration is set to ease the annual targets proposed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) initial plan to reduce tailpipe emissions and increase EV sales in response to concerns raised by automakers and the United Auto Workers union, Reuters reported. The original plan, proposed in April 2023, aimed for a 56% reduction in new vehicle emissions by 2032. Automakers were expected to have 60% of their new vehicle production as EVs by 2030 and 67% by 2032.

However, the revised final regulation, expected to be made public next month, will slow down the pace of the proposed yearly emissions requirements through 2030. This adjustment is anticipated to result in EVs accounting for less than 60% of total vehicles produced by 2030, the report said, citing sources.

Why The Revision: The UAW, which endorsed Biden in January, has been advocating for a more gradual increase in stringency over a longer period of time. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI), a trade group representing major automakers, also criticized the initial EPA proposal as “neither reasonable nor achievable.”

“Give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up, maintain a customer's ability to choose, let more public charging come online, let the industrial credits and Inflation Reduction Act do their thing and impact the industrial shift,” AAI CEO John Bozzella reportedly said on Sunday. The group, which includes Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, among others, met with the White House and EPA last week to discuss the new proposal.

The EPA is currently reviewing the proposal, aiming to finalize a rule that is “readily achievable, secures reductions in dangerous air and climate pollution, and ensures economic benefits,” a spokesperson told Reuters.

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