GM to Propose Nationwide EV Initiative

General Motors Co. plans today to propose that the U.S. order carmakers to sell increasing numbers of EVs each year, beginning in 2021.

GM says the plan would put 7 million EVs on the road by 2030. It claims the initiative would create jobs, lower fuel consumption and enhance America’s technological competitiveness in the emerging global EV market.

The plan would begin the year after the Trump administration proposes to freeze fuel economy and emission standards, which currently are scheduled to tighten significantly through 2025.

“We know that (our) industry can do better than that,” Mark Reuss, who heads GM’s global product development, tells reporters. The Trump administration has been holding public hearings about the proposed regulatory freeze. The comment period ends tonight.

Bloomberg News notes that several carmakers have been critical of the White House plan. They say the plan is certain to spark a protracted legal battle by California, which vows to enforce the current emission schedule through its authority to set its own emission standards. The Trump administration aims to strip the state of that power.

Honda Motor Co. is among those urging that state and federal policymakers, along with the auto industry, come up with a single national plan to avoid regulatory uncertainty. Informal talks since the Trump administration’s draft plan was finalized in August have produced no such solution.

Without one, carmakers say they would be saddled by the cost of producing two fleets of vehicles for the American market: one for much of the country and another for California and a dozen states that follow its policies on emissions.