What is unknown about the NHTSA’s new fuel economy guidelines is whether they will be consistent with California’s own efforts to phase out gas cars by 2035. Steven Cliff, California Air Resources Board Executive Officer who was also NHTSA administrator until September, told Reuters that the federal government should “look at stringency that’s equivalent to our rules. We’re 68% zero emissions in 2030 so modeling that and looking at that as an option for 2030 is absolutely critical.”
By now, it’s well-known that the Biden administration has set a goal for half of all new vehicle sales to be EVs or plug-in hybrids by 2030. Until that happens, automakers who still sell gas cars will be under increasing pressure to make them more efficient or face hefty fines. That said, the NHTSA has not yet collected penalties for 2019-2021 model year vehicles as it is still evaluating and gathering data.
The industry will be watching closely in April when the NHTSA details its new fuel economy standards.
