For green-minded motorists, Monday brought a classic good news-bad news tale.
Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan, cars and light trucks will need to deliver an average 40 miles per gallon by 2026.
The Obama administration reached a compromise with the auto industry that would have hit 36 mpg by 2026 after factoring in credits automakers qualify for.
In official terms unrelated to how many miles a gallon of gas would transport the average driver, the new average is reported as 55 mpg but that figure includes different calculations and some virtual credits.
Ford has increased its electrification budget by almost 250% over the last two years and is planning a six square-mile EV factory complex, dubbed Blue Oval City, outside Memphis.
But the industry counted on Biden to help win over potential customers.
The latest battery-electric vehicles have stretched range to as much as 500 miles for the new Lucid Air sedan.
But the proposal is, at best, stalled in the Senate now that West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin has said he won’t vote for the roughly $2 trillion proposal.
Leaders like Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford Motor Co., and GM CEO Mary Barra, have both stressed the need to set up a charging network and boost incentives.
“Achieving the goals of this final rule will undoubtedly require enactment of supportive governmental policies—including consumer incentives, substantial infrastructure growth, fleet requirements, and support for U.S.