Joe Biden Eyed the EV But Went for the Hybrid
New tailpipe emissions standards announced by the Environmental Protection Agency try to balance climate imperatives with consumer preferences.
Soon, there may be no more of this.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images.
After browsing the vehicle lot for at least a year, President Joe Biden has plumped for the hybrid. New tailpipe emissions standards announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency represent an attempt to balance climate imperatives with consumer preferences, technological stretch goals with industrial capabilities, and, perhaps most acutely, the environmental and labor wings of Democrats.
When the EPA issued the proposed standards almost a year ago in April in a push toward a rapid electrification of passenger vehicles, they drew the expected criticism from Republicans and oil industry-linked interests. But they also received a cautious response from legacy automobile manufacturers and the United Auto Workers union, which feared a dash for electric vehicles was beyond Detroit’s current capabilities and would result in factories being shuttered.