GM has issues with EPA rules seeking 50% EVs by 2030

(Green Car Reports) — General Motors on Wednesday said it would have trouble complying with proposed emissions rules that would require vastly greater EV sales over the next decade.

As reported by Reuters, GM said in comments to the EPA that there are six state and federal regulations that “could require each automaker to exceed 50% EVs in at least a dozen vehicle averaging sets in the approximate 2030 timeframe.”

The EPA in April said proposed federal emissions rules would effectively require 60% EV sale by 2030 and would max out at 67% EV sales by 2032, which the agency estimates will cut emissions by 56% compared to the current rule set, which runs through 2026. The proposal doesn’t mandate EVs as a technology, though. A public comment period for it ended this week.

GM said it is “concerned that either a potential lack of clarity or a lack of coordination across the agencies may hinder an automaker’s ability to remain in compliance, year-after-year, across each of these regulatory programs even while meeting EPA’s overall EV targets.”

However GM, which in 2021 said it “aspired” to make its light-duty vehicle lineup all-electric by 2035, said it supported the “original goals” outlined in President Biden’s August 2021 executive order, which called for 50% of new-car sales to be EVs or plug-in hybrids by 2030. Which is still more than some in the auto industry are doing.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents many of the legacy automakers, said in comments submitted in May: “To be clear, [the] administration’s 50% target was always a stretch goal. It was ambitious and challenging to meet by any measure.”

The Alliance and its full-line automakers supported the rules when revealed but have tried to soften them since. The organization has also said the stricter rules might affect vehicle availability. In a recent executive summary of comments submitted to the EPA, it argued that the limits “are neither reasonable nor achievable in the time frame covered.”

Meanwhile, as ZETA, which represents EV makers and associated suppliers has pointed out, Stellantis, GM and Toyota are among several automakers sitting on a large amount of emissions credits that will soften their shift to EVs. GM and Stellantis recently paid record fines for missing earlier emissions targets, but a stockpile of credits could prevent a repeat of that.

GM CEO Mary Barra has said that about 75% of the carbon impact from the company comes from the vehicles it sells. But GM has also ramped up efforts to shift to renewable energy for manufacturing facilities way ahead of original goals.