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In response to Trump order Auto Innovators says single, national carbon reduction standard is needed

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In response to President Donald Trump’s termination of state emission waivers, the president and CEO of the Alliance for Auto Innovation (Auto Innovators) says “the country should have a single, national standard to reduce carbon in transportation.”

In an executive order, Trump terminated the state waivers, revoked the Biden Administration’s electric vehicle (EV) plan, and halted the distribution of government funds for vehicle charging stations on his first day in office.

Trump halted the distribution of government funds for vehicle charging stations on his first day in office.

Biden outlined a plan for 50% of new passenger vehicles to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030 in a 2021 executive order. He rolled back the plan during his election campaign.

The state emission waivers allowed states to adopt zero-emission vehicle mandates that followed California’s Advanced Clean Cars II program. Auto Innovators recently said it would take a miracle for major automakers to meet the mandates.

“The president is paying close attention to the competitiveness of the American auto industry,” said John Bozzella, Auto Innovators president and CEO, in a press release. “And anyone who has been paying attention knows there’s a mismatch between current EV market dynamics and the emissions and EV sales targets called for in recent regulations — especially in the states that adopted California’s gas-powered vehicle ban and EV sales requirements (that are by any measure not achievable).

“There’s a saying in the auto business: you can’t get ahead of the customer We can’t have regulations that push the industry too far ahead of the customer. The customer is in charge. More balance between the regulations and the preservation of customer choice is the goal.”

In a Dec. 11 memo, Auto Innovators wrote that “the ‘California’ issue will dominate electrified vehicle policy (and politics) in the year ahead.'”

“The California/177 states are telling automakers what kind of vehicles to sell under a program that is an unaccountable, unachievable regulatory wormhole,” the memo states. “Participating states aren’t accountable to California… and they’re not accountable to the EPA either. Factor in a lack of public charging and customers who aren’t quite ready to make the switch to EVs and you see how the policy is totally out of whack (not to mention beginning next year).”

In an Oct. 15 letter, Auto Innovators Chief Government Affairs and Policy Officer David Schwietert wrote about the alliance’s support for developing and deploying emerging vehicle technologies, including EVs, as a crucial part of the U.S. economy and job market as well as economic competition with China.

“While the U.S. is no longer the largest auto-producing country, China’s strategic focus on EVs has propelled it to global leadership,” the memo states. “Unlike other export sectors, China’s EV dominance is a key element of its high-tech economic strategy and a vital counterbalance to a slowing domestic consumer market. As a result, Chinese EVs are attracting large venture capital investments as decision-makers reach the same conclusion: the sector is too big to fail and will receive whatever support from the Chinese government it perceives as necessary.

“Auto manufacturers and suppliers are committed to keeping the U.S. at the forefront of automotive innovation and manufacturing — and are investing significantly in that future and Congress’ support of complementary tax policies is critical to securing these and catalyzing further investments. In recent years, the automotive supply chain and manufacturers have announced $124 billion in U.S. investments, from $33 billion in EV assembly plants to $90 billion of which are in battery factories. Investments that will create 113,000 jobs and increase U.S. battery plant capacity by 649%.”

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