Mark Reuss, GM’s executive vice president of product development, said on Friday the company will propose that a certain percentage of sales nationwide be made up of vehicles that run on electricity or hydrogen cells, reports the Associated Press.
“A national zero emissions program will drive the scale and infrastructure investments needed to allow the U.S. to lead the way to a zero-emissions future,” Reuss said.
On Friday, GM will spell out its proposal in written comments to a Trump administration proposal to roll back Obama-era fuel economy and emissions standards. The Trump administration wants to freeze them at 2020 levels instead of making them gradually tougher.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are currently accepting comments on a proposed Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles regulation. The two agencies are proposing to amend fuel economy and GHG emissions standards for cars and light trucks, covering model years 2021 to 2026.
Under General Motors’ scheme, the country could add over 7 million more electric vehicles to our highways by 2030. In addition to the environmental considerations, GM says a nationwide program would “preserve U.S. industrial leadership for years to come.”
A nationwide zero-emissions program would potentially reduce GHG emissions by 375 million tons between 2021 and 2030. The company’s proposal takes into consideration the current standards required in California and nine other states.
California’s Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Program uses a formula that is based on the total number of vehicles sold by an automaker and gives credits for fully electric vehicle sales and partial credits for plug-in gas-electric hybrid vehicles.
GM’s proposal would set lower zero-emissions vehicle requirements than California but spread them to the entire nation. The requirements would gradually increase until 2025. Reuss explained that the company’s proposal is at least a starting point for opening discussions on achieving zero-emissions through better fuel efficiency.
We want really one national set of standards,” he said. “Engineering to multiple standards is very costly and frankly, unnecessary.”
The deadline for written comments on the Trump administration plan are due Friday, with a final decision expected in March.