Federal mandates and incentives on clean cars and trucks continue to face opposition in Washington. The Senate backed the House by rejecting three California regulations that had been supported by the Biden administration. That includes banning the sale of gasoline-powered cars in 2035; phasing out the sale of medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles with zero-emission trucks that would have to make up 40% to 75% of sales by 2035; and the third would have allowed for revamping a testing program to ensure heavy-duty vehicles comply with emissions standards and set stricter standards to limit pollution from nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, which pose public health risks, according to Associated Press. The California truck rules are named California’s Advanced Clean Trucks and Heavy-Duty Omnibus regulations.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign resolutions supporting these actions that will nullify the California Air Resources Board rules and waivers, and which will be prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing similar measures in the future. Once these resolutions pass through the executive branch, they’re expected to face several lawsuits that will probably take several months to resolve.
A coalition of 11 states has launched an Affordable Clean Cars Coalition to expand access to zero emission vehicles — primarily electric vehicles — by protecting their state residents from they call attacks by the federal government and to continue supporting advancements in clean cars and trucks, according to Electrek.
The new coalition of governors supporting these efforts include: Gavin Newsom, California; Jared Polis, Colorado; ;Matt Meyer, Delaware; Maura Healey, Massachusetts; Wes Moore, Maryland; Phil Murphy, New Jersey; Michelle Lujan Grisham, New Mexico; Kathy Hochul, New York; Tina Kotek, Oregon; Dan McKee, Rhode Island; and Bob Ferguson, Washington.
The coalition says that it represents over 100 million Americans and around 30% of the US car market.
Republican House members have passed a version of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that could, if passed into law, cut subsidies for battery manufacturing and remove incentives for purchasing electric vehicles. It would phase out the Clean Vehicle Credit that was expanded under the Biden administration through the Inflation Reduction Act. Currently, buyers of qualifying electric vehicles can get $7,500 off the price with restrictions based on vehicle price and household income, according to Car and Driver. The new bill would officially end the clean-vehicle credit program on December 31, 2026. Some automakers will see it end by Dec. 31, 2025, as the bill stipulates that any automaker that’s sold more than 200,000 of the qualifying vehicles won’t have access to the tax incentives after that date.
Another part of this bill is that hybrid vehicles would become subject to a new $100 registration fee, while electric vehicles would add a $250 annual fee. Combined with the removal of clean-vehicle credits, the new registration fees would help to significantly raise the cost of electrified vehicle ownership.
Dieselgate sentencing: Nearly a decade after Volkswagen’s “dieselgate” scandal broke, a German court just issued verdicts in a criminal trial targeting senior staff at VW’s main brand. Four former Volkswagen AG managers were convicted by a German court for their roles in the diesel-emission scandal, involving the manipulation of emissions data from millions of cars.
Charging signage: In a Southern California parking garage last week, a sign from Chargepoint read, “EV Charging: To avoid breaking the port connector when removing it, all vehicle doors must be unlocked.” That sign was not far away from a white Rivian pickup customized with a utility truck storage bin installed on the bed; though the sign was for all EVs using their charging ports.
BYD grows in Europe: Chinese EV manufacturer BYD has registered more battery electric vehicles than Tesla in the European car market for the first time ever, in April. Tesla has dominated the region’s electric car market for the better part of a decade, while BYD has only started selling cars in Europe in late 2022. It was a close call — with BYD at 7,231 registrations in April and Tesla at 7,165. BYD came in 10th and Tesla at 11th in the overall sales in Europe for that month, according to Jato Dynamics’ sales data.
New grant program: Climate United NEXT, a pre-development grant program, was launched earlier this year to help nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, Indian tribes, and Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) accelerate early-stage clean energy projects through planning to project financing. Through grant funding for planning, technical assistance, and community engagement, communities will identify solutions that meet their unique needs and lay the groundwork for projects including solar, green buildings, and electric transportation. The program’s goals are to help communities successfully deploy projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollution, and lower energy costs.
It’s a national public-private investment fund removing financial barriers to clean energy projects so every American benefits from good-paying jobs, lower energy bills, domestic manufacturing, and cleaner air. The Climate United coalition is formed by three expert organizations — Calvert Impact, Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), and Self-Help. The first deadline to apply was in January. Climate United will be starting this Fall with projects focused on benefiting Native communities. In 2025, the organization will have additional rounds focused on other underserved market segments; and intends to provide up to $30 million in grant funding over the next five years to equip small- and mid-sized organizations to unlock public and private capital for climate projects.
