In 2030, the United States plans to phase out the use of gasoline cars in favor of electric vehicles

The strategy for encouraging electric mobility varies from country to country. Although the European Union has chosen to essentially ban cars with internal combustion engines (unless they run on electric fuels), other countries have opted for more technologically impartial measures. The United States is an example of the latter.

Indeed, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , which has jurisdiction over the matter, on Wednesday proposed tough new emissions standards for cars, trucks and other light-duty vehicles. These standards could result in an almost tenfold increase in electric vehicle sales by 2032.

The approach advocated by the EPA is similar to that of the EU for 2030, aiming to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from vehicle tailpipes. This measure imposes a limit of 82 grams/mile (approximately 50.9 g/km) on average for a manufacturer's fleet, which represents a reduction of 56% compared to the objective set by the EPA for 2026 .

Vehicles with a fuel consumption of 2.1 liters per 100 kilometers traveled or electric cars

For Europe, where the standard calls for an average of 47.5g/km by 2030, one would think the EPA target is lower. However, it is worth remembering that by 2030, each automaker's fleet average emissions must be 55% lower than the 2021 target of 95g/km.

In reality, due to a looser certification method in Europe, using the WLTP cycle , the two metrics are nearly identical.

Automakers will be forced to offer electric or heavily electrified models, such as PHEVs with large batteries, to meet the required average level of emissions. For example, a petrol car will need to consume around 2.1 litres/100 km and a diesel around 1.9 litres/100 km to achieve CO₂ emissions of 50 g/km.

If the proposed regulations pass, electric vehicles will become increasingly popular in the United States, accounting for 67% of auto sales by 2032, or two out of every three new cars sold in the country.

It is clear that the production of zero-emission vehicles is the most obvious solution to meet these requirements, although car manufacturers have the theoretical possibility of proposing other strategies to achieve this goal.

With the IRA incentives , which offer deep discounts on cars and batteries made in North America (including Canada or Mexico, not just the US), it's even more likely that the local automotive industry will be relevant in this electric future.

Mary Barra CEO of General Motors

The new rules proposed by the EPA do not have a specific deadline for their adoption and will be the subject of lengthy negotiations, which means that they could undergo significant revisions.

Under President Joe Biden , a goal was set for half of new cars sold in the United States to be zero-emission vehicles by 2030, which is in line with the EPA's proposal . However, unlike California or Europe, this proposal does not explicitly prohibit the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines.

Despite this, many brands with factories in North America are committed to working in this direction. Stellantis has promised that half of its US sales will be electric cars by the end of the decade, while General Motors has planned to phase out gasoline and diesel cars altogether by 2035. Honda has also set a similar target for 2040.

As for Ford , the company is investing more than $50 billion to produce 2 million electric cars by 2026, which is about a third of its annual global production. However, to date the company has only committed to going fully electric in Europe.