A host of major car manufacturers are withdrawing their support for former President Donald Trump’s effort to ban California from setting its own zero-emission vehicle rules.
In a joint statement released by Toyota, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Hyundai, Kia, Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Subaru, the car manufacturers said the decision was made “in a gesture of good faith and to find a constructive path forward” with President Joe Biden. The companies added they were aligned “with the Biden administration’s goals to achieve year-over-year improvements in fuel economy standards.”
Since taking office, President Biden has directed agencies to reconsider Trump’s 2019 decision to revoke California’s authority to set its own emissions standards and requirements for zero-emission vehicles.
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Nissan withdrew its support from Trump’s move in December while General Motors did the same in November.
Reuters notes that the Alliance for Automotive Innovation this week proposed to commence talks with Biden on revised fuel economy standards that will be higher than those set during the Trump administration but lower than those set under President Barack Obama.
The auto group said in a statement that a new nationwide emissions framework deal “should achieve improvements in GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions roughly midway between current standards and those of the former Obama administration.”
This news comes just a week after President Joe Biden announced plans to replace the U.S. federal government’s 650,000-strong car fleet with electric vehicles. No timeline has been provided as to when the shift to all-electric power will be made but Biden confirmed the EVs will be manufactured in the United States.
