GM pitches all-electric future, with lackluster support from Washington

GM CEO Mary BarraGeneral Motors CEO Mary Barra announced an accelerated sustainability push for the automaker Wednesday during a presentation for investors, and showed no sign of backing down from the company’s plan for an all-electric future that's out of sync with the talking points from either California or the Trump administration. “We believe...

Ad for Presidential candidate Yang features Tesla, talks automation

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang with Tesla Model XTesla hasn’t run a single traditional TV ad so far. Yet one political ad that’s been running in Iowa might as well be a Tesla commercial. It’s a campaign spot for Andrew Yang, and while Green Car Reports doesn’t usually dive so deeply into political commercials, this one is something different—consisting of what plays...

Report: EPA eases up on plan to rework mpg rules

gas pumpA draft of the final rule for the Trump administration’s plan to relax national fuel economy regulations is currently in White House review, with a requirement for annual 1.5% mileage increases from 2021 through 2026. It now includes carrying over the existing framework for calculating fleet averages forward, as well as the current system...

Commentary: Impeaching and removing Trump will save electric cars

President Donald Trump (Photo courtesy Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons)There’s a small footnote in the chapters of history being written on Capitol Hill this week: One of President Donald Trump’s signature reforms—to subvert California’s right to set its own emissions standards—now seems like scribbles in the margin on the pages of his administration's legacy. For the electric-car...

EPA, CARB escalate climate change war of words in Capitol Hill showdown

EPA Acting Administrator Andrew WheelerThe EPA and California Air Resources Board have moved slowly in the past year, failing to reach a consensus on key issues between the federal department's proposals to roll back emissions-based fuel economy standards and the state's decades-old ability to set their own. Tensions boiled over this week when EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler sent a...

Politics be damned: Electric cars aren’t really so polarizing

The White House, Washington, D.C.  [Creative Commons license by dcjohn]In these days when the political dividing lines can seem insurmountable, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have something in common: Regardless of their political affiliation, a majority say that they view electric vehicles positively. A new survey from Climate Nexus has found that 77 percent—a strong majority—views EVs...

Commentary: Overdue for reform, EV tax credit needs reasonable limits

2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVNow that the federal plug-in tax credit has begun to wind down on the U.S.-made Chevrolet Bolt EV, members of Congress propose to do something about it. Democrats have proposed several bills in Congress to remove the manufacturer-based 200,000-car cap on the credits and extending them for 10 years, and a new proposal by California Democrat Ro...