The times of Donald Trump to the US government, judging by the new car-related emissions regulations. The administration led by Joe Biden in August he had asked for the cancellation of the Safe (Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient) program launched by Trump in March 2020; at the time, the Republican had set an average fuel consumption standard of 32 miles per gallon.
Now the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) will raise this average fuel consumption limit per gallon from 32 to 40 miles, the equivalent of 17 kilometers with one liter of fuel. The move is expected to lead to a decrease in emissions of more than 28% by 2026 if the new efficiency standards are followed. The manufacturers’ association has asked for incentives to be able to adapt to the new regulations.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration also released a plan to build a network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the US. In announcing this, Vice President Kamala Harris noted: “When we ask people what is the biggest obstacle for them to buy an electric car, the answer is almost always figuring out where and how to charge it.“. Biden had asked for $ 15 billion for the plan, but Congress cut the figure in half.
According to an article by Robert Rapier on Forbes, the plan should be better structured from a geographical point of view: “Fast charging stations are needed, because the time it takes to charge a vehicle is another factor influencing the decision to purchase an electric vehicle. But the reduced funding likely means slower charging stations. Level 2 charging stations require 2-10 hours to fully recharge a dead battery. The most powerful and most expensive tier 3 charging stations can achieve this in 30 minutes. This means that most drivers will likely have to do most of the charging overnight, at home. Additionally, the fastest Tier 3 charging stations will need to be strategically placed along major highways and interstates to serve drivers on long-distance journeys – a necessity especially if electric vehicles are to play a more important role in commercial transportation. There are currently vast expanses of ‘electric’ deserts in the Midwest and southern United States, and this is a major obstacle for those wishing to purchase a battery-powered vehicle. In addition to the speed of charging, a huge increase in the charging capacity of electric vehicles will require more power and more grid capacity to refuel them.. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that electric vehicles could require between 525 terawatt hours (TWh) and 860 TWh of electricity globally by 2030, up from 80 TWh last year. This equates to more than three times California’s current energy consumption“.
However, in the long term, electric vehicles will be able to make a contribution in accelerating towards renewable energies and towards stabilizing the grid; and many Americans already rely on solar energy today. For this reason, one-off tightenings and a few more columns are not enough, but it would rather be a real integrated plan that is able to involve as many industrial sectors as possible.
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