
– Legacy petroleum-powered vehicles are not expected to meet these standards, even with aggressive technological advances
Washington/New York – In March 2024, EPA raised existing Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards (CAFE) from already high levels. The ruling requires light-duty vehicle emissions to be half of current levels by 2032.
Several of the emissions reductions required would be in excess of 50% of current levels; this is after half a century of efficiency improvements that have already addressed gaping inefficiencies and brought emissions down to this low level.
Manufacturers are anticipated to attain compliance through increased EV (fully electric vehicle) sales.
The CAFE credit provided by an EV is comparable to the CAFE debit required by gasoline vehicles; this would indicate by 2032 auto manufacture will have to sell one EV for every gasoline car. There is much uncertainty over if and how auto manufacturers will be able to comply with these standards given the size and availability of EV supply chains.
If auto manufacturers are unable to meet the standards through sales, fines will be incurred, the cost of which will be passed through to consumers. These fines are applied to all vehicles in the manufactures fleet, regardless if they individual meet standards or not.