The EPA goes after tailpipe emissions, Elon gets an ultimatum and Careem lands $400M for its super app

As many expected, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed aggressive emissions standards that will slash the amount of pollution emitted from tailpipes to protect public health; the agency also noted in its 758-page document that it in addition to and separate from this proposal, the Administration has recognized the need for action to address climate change.

The new standards would apply to model years 2027 through 2032. For light-duty vehicles, the EPA proposes increasing the stringency each year. The target for the light-duty fleet us 82 grams/mile (g/mile) of CO2 by model year 2032. That would mean a 56 percent reduction in projected fleet average GHG emissions target levels from the existing MY 2026 standards.

While the proposal is technology agnostic, most automakers would likely meet the new standards by accelerating the shift to EVs. The EPA projects this could result in EVs accounting for two-thirds of new light-duty vehicle production and 46 percent of new medium-duty vehicle production driven mostly by electrification of vans) by 2032.

To put that in context, new EVs accounted for 5.6 percent of total market share in 2022.