More EV sales could come from anticipated Biden rule

The Biden administration is expected to soon put forward a proposal to strengthen regulations on vehicular emissions that, if finalized, is likely to move the market toward a greater share of electric vehicle sales.

A person familiar told The Hill that they expect the proposal, which concerns passenger cars for model years 2027 and later,  to come out this week, while another person familiar added that they expect it soon.

The White House concluded its formal review of the proposal for regulation on Friday. 

The New York Times reported over the weekend that the standards would be designed to ensure that electric vehicles make up as much as 67 percent of new car sales by 2032. 

 The Hill has not been able to independently verify the figure and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment. 

The EPA regularly puts forward standards limiting tailpipe emissions for automakers’ vehicle fleets. Automakers may respond to these standards either by upgrading cars with gas-powered engines to have fewer emissions, making more of their vehicles electric in order to lessen their overall emissions or a combination of the two. 

A person familiar with the proposal said that they expect the rule not only to regulate cars for climate change, but also for other pollutants such as soot or nitrogen oxides that can harm the respiratory system. 

President Biden has previously said he would like for half of new vehicle sales in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. Last year, 5.8 percent of new car sales were electric, according to Kelley Blue Book.