Twenty-six state attorneys general, led by Kentucky AG Russell Coleman and West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey, have taken the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to court to challenge the Biden Administration’s new electric vehicle and manufacturing mandates.

The AGs state in their petition to the court of appeals that the “Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards for Passenger Cars and Light Trucks for Model Years 2027 and Beyond and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans for Model Years 2030 and Beyond” exceeds NHTSA’s statutory authority and is “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not in accordance with law.”

The states argue that the mandate would require car manufacturers to “dramatically increase” the average fuel economy of passenger cars and light trucks in less than a decade.

“The rule creates unworkable standards that leverage the weight of the federal government to require auto manufacturers to produce more EVs,” state news releases from Coleman and Morrisey. “The forced transition to EVs would bypass the free market while increasing costs on families and undermining the reliability of the electric grid.

“EVs account for less than 1% of vehicles registered in Kentucky. This case is the latest of Attorney General Coleman’s challenges to the Biden Administration’s radical green agenda. He is leading national coalitions to stop EV mandates and burdensome regulations on manufacturing facilities.”

The petition asks the court to declare the rule unlawful and to vacate it.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit was randomly selected from a lottery of possible appellate courts. The Sixth Circuit normally hears appeals from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Other states involved in the case include:

• • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arkansas
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Idaho
  • Iowa
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • New Hampshire
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Texas
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Wyoming

According to Politico, eight challenges to the rule will be consolidated at the Sixth Circuit Court including the American Petroleum Institute, other industry groups, and environmental groups.

“The Biden Administration must now leave the Beltway and come to Middle America to defend its punishing electric vehicle mandate,” Coleman said in a July 12 news release. “Along with our AG colleagues in 25 other states, we are prepared to bring a zealous appeal to challenge this billion-dollar boondoggle to drive gas-powered cars off the road. It’s time for the Biden Administration to reverse its political agenda and focus on delivering real relief for Kentucky families.”

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers led the General Assembly to establish a $3 million “Electric Reliability Defense Fund” to equip the AG’s Office “to protect Kentucky families from the Biden Administration’s job-killing regulations,” a June news release states.

“Congress did not give the NHTSA such power to reshape an industry in a way that would ultimately hurt the pocketbooks of consumers— this rule is legally flawed and unrealistic,” Morrisey said in June. “This will undoubtedly cause the United States to be dependent on other nations like China for our energy needs and will undermine American energy security by increasing demand and strain power grids. And NHTSA is taking this action even though Congress instructed that it was not to consider electric vehicles when setting fuel standards.

“The Biden administration’s mission seems to be to cripple the economy, increase inflation and prolong the suffering of millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet — all while ignoring the boundaries of the law.”

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation (Auto Innovators) now supports the CAFE standards after questioning the need for them last year.

In a June 7 blog post, CEO John Bozzella wrote, “Over the last year or so, we made this point to the Biden administration: these interconnected tailpipe regulations only work… if they work together. We had a specific concern about the CAFE rule proposed last year. Should an automaker be considered in violation of CAFE rules (and subject to billions of dollars in civil penalties) if it complies with the standards established by EPA’s new greenhouse gas rules? No, they shouldn’t. And… at first glance, the final CAFE rule seems to say as much.

“Those fines wouldn’t have produced any environmental benefits or additional fuel economy and would’ve foolishly diverted automaker capital away from the massive investments required by the electric vehicle transition. It looks like the left hand knew what the right hand was doing. That’s the kind of coordination we recommended. So that’s good and appreciated.”

However, Bozzella also called CAFE “a relic of the 1970s” and likely isn’t needed “in a world rapidly moving toward electrification.”

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