- There is no indication yet of how heavily the EPA will “tweak” its regulation for 2032, but the claw-back might need to be substantial.
- Ford and General Motors are hedging their EV bets by diving headfirst into the hybrid market. They have 11 years before California’s EV mandate kicks in.
- “Frankly, the consumers have spoken and are not adopting (EVs) as quickly as thought,” said Eric Frehsee, president of the Tamaroff Group’s six suburban Detroit dealerships.
The Biden administration plans to ease back on proposed tailpipe emissions standards that would require 67% of all vehicles sold by 2032 to have zero emissions, The New York Times reported this week, citing “three people familiar with the plan.”
As the administration finalizes the plan, it is “tweaking” it to slow the pace of electric vehicle adoption for practical and political reasons, including labor unions seeking to organize new EV plants around the country, especially in the South, according to the report.
There is no indication yet of how heavily the EPA will “tweak” its regulation for 2032, but the claw-back might need to be substantial, considering the most optimistic projections for EV market share for that time period top out at less than 40%.
While the EPA almost certainly faced pressure from the auto industry as well as the oil industry, major automakers are not easing up on their race to bring affordable, desirable EVs to the market and take some share from Tesla.
General Motors expects to build 200,000 to 300,000 EVs in North America this year, in part catching up over stifled new model launches last year, and it retains its goal of building 1 million EVs in North America on an annual basis by the end of 2025.
Ford Motor Company expects to devote about 40% of its 2024 capital expenditures to EVs, which would come to $3.2- to $3.8 billion.
But Ford, and now GM, are hedging their bets by diving headfirst into the hybrid market heretofore led by Toyota. They have 11 years before California’s EV mandate kicks in, while hoping private and public initiatives to atomize the US recharging network comes together.
The EV market took a blow last year, especially in the fourth quarter, as electric model sales slowed and inventory began to pile up on dealers’ lots.
Some of the blame went to high EV sticker prices, even as the growing inventory as well as Tesla price pressures pushed MSRPs down. By last fall, the average transaction price of an EV was $50,798, compared with an ATP of $48,759 for conventional gasoline and hybrid models, according to Cox Automotive.
There is much agreement that all the “early adopters” who had planned to buy an EV now have one, and that mainstream consumers attracted to the environmental and economic advantages of electric power are put off by the poor recharging infrastructure.
Consider, too, that the used market for EVs is generally limited to consumers who live in single-family dwellings with a garage or parking pad that can accommodate a home recharger.
“Frankly, the consumers have spoken and are not adopting (EVs) as quickly as thought,” said Eric Frehsee, president of the Tamaroff Group’s six suburban Detroit dealerships.
Eric Frehsee, president Tamaroff Motors.
Last December, Frehsee led a group of 3882 US car dealerships calling on President Biden to back down from the EPA’s proposed regulation designed to require 67% of new vehicle sales to be EVs by 2032.
Frehsee, who took time out from an EV subcommittee with fellow Nissan dealers to speak with Autoweek, said there is no indication the December letter has played any part in getting the White House to consider easing the standard.
“We can only speculate that the note was received,” he said.
Do you expect another healthy uptick in battery-electric vehicle demand will force yet another pivot from government agencies and the auto industry? Please comment below.
As a kid growing up in Metro Milwaukee, Todd Lassa impressed childhood friends with his ability to identify cars on the street by year, make, and model. But when American automakers put an end to yearly sheetmetal changes, Lassa turned his attention toward underpowered British sports cars with built-in oil leaks. After a varied early journalism career, he joined Autoweek, then worked in Motor Trend’s and Automobile’s Detroit bureaus, before escaping for Mountain Maryland with his wife, three dogs, three sports cars (only one of them British), and three bicycles. Lassa is founding editor of thehustings.news, which has nothing to do with cars.
