EPA approves CA’s clean air rules that Trump says he’ll revoke (but can’t)
In the waning days of a Biden Administration which has been marked by huge progress on clean air and EV policy, the US government has approved California’s emissions rules which would end gas-only car sales within the state by 2035.
California’s “Advanced Clean Cars 2” light-duty emissions rules, which were finalized in 2022, have now received their final step of approval from the federal government, in the form of an EPA “waiver” that allows California to set its own emissions rules over and above those of the federal government.
The EPA also approved a requested waiver for low-NOx regulations for heavy duty and off-road engines at the same time.
Environmental organizations responded positively to the move – with EarthJustice, Sierra Club, the Environmental Defense Fund and CALSTART joining the chorus in our email inboxes this morning.
California has requested waivers for several other sets of emissions rules, but some are still pending and may or may not be granted by the EPA within the next month.
Environmental organizations further called on the EPA to approve California’s other requested waivers as soon as possible. Sierra Club Clean Transportation for All Director Katherine Garcia said “we urge the EPA to swiftly grant the remaining California waivers, which are crucial for states to protect their residents from transportation pollution.”
EPA said in its release today that “EPA continues reviewing additional waiver requests from California and is working to ensure its decisions are durable and grounded by law.”
The history of California’s emissions rules
For decades now, California has had a special “waiver” given by the federal government, allowing it to set its own emissions rules as long as they are stricter than the rules for the US overall.
This is due to heavy smog problems in California – especially in the areas around Los Angeles, its largest city and home to the nation’s largest container port; and in the central valley, which is the most agriculturally productive land in the country. Both of these places have geography that traps smog from the millions of cars driving on their roads every day and results in particularly bad air quality.
And so, since the 1960s when the California Air Resources Board was created (by then-Governor Ronald Reagan), California has generally exercised its state’s right to set its own emissions rules. Other states are allowed to follow these rules, but only if they copy them exactly.
These clean air rules have been a success, resulting in a >98% reduction in vehicle-based pollutants in the LA area, even as total vehicle miles traveled have gone up (and that news was from 2012 – it’s gotten even better since then due to EVs). But there’s still more to be done, because California still has air quality problems.
California’s new set of rules has been in the works since 2020, and will have the effect of ensuring that there are no new gas-only vehicles sold in the state by 2035 (though there can be 20% plug-in hybrids, but those hybrids have to fit certain requirements to ensure they actually get used properly).
California intentionally chose this less-ambitious 2035 timeline because it thought it would make it easier for other states to follow along. And as a result, 11 other states covering around a third of the US new vehicle market have said that they will adopt the standards.
The new emissions rules are expected to save Californians $13 billion in health costs, avoid thousands of deaths, cut auto emissions by half, and result in almost a billion fewer barrels of petroleum being burned. Other states will see similar improvements in health and money savings.
EPA grants new California waiver – with another clean air fight looming
All of this was contingent on the EPA signing off on the regulation, which it did so today.
The approval isn’t unexpected, but comes quite late during President Biden’s term, which has been marked by significant improvements in emissions rules and EV policy, leading to a boom in domestic manufacturing jobs and investment.
While a procedural step like this normally would not be particularly notable, there are some complicating factors here.
First, since it is late in the current Congressional term, the incoming Congress could attempt to reverse it through use of the Congressional Review Act, which republicans have made use of often in recent years to try to stop regulations that might improve Americans’ health. However, since the waiver is not actually a federal regulation and rather a state one, the Congressional Review Act doesn’t apply.
The larger threat is that, unfortunately for America, the next occupant of the White House is convicted felon Donald Trump, who finally received more votes than his opponent on his third attempt (despite committing treason in 2021, for which there is a clear legal remedy). Mr. Trump has stated quite forcefully that he wants to reverse President Biden’s clean air policies, thus saddling Americans with dirtier air, higher costs and poorer health, and sending EV jobs to China to ensure that this new boom in American manufacturing is unable to flourish.
Mr. Trump previously squatted in the White House between 2017-2021, after having obtained the 2nd most votes in the 2016 election. During that period, he attempted to poison Americans by worsening California’s emissions rules – but in keeping with his pattern of incompetence, he failed to do so.
The primary actual outcome of the last fight with California was to de-harmonize federal and California standards. While California has mostly gone it alone since the 60s, there was a brief period in the 2010s where California and federal rules were harmonized – but industry lobbying resulted in a shattering of that harmony, giving companies a more difficult regulatory environment.
Industry learned their lesson, but republicans still aiming for dirty air
As a result, this time around, industry has decided to lobby against shattering emissions standards, recognizing the chaos that was caused the last time an ignoramus got involved in setting auto regulations.
Despite the desires of the industry in question, Mr. Trump has signaled that he wants to “rip up” California’s waiver again – even though the law does not specify a method to revoke a waiver once it is granted, as EPA did today.
There is in fact no legal pathway described in the Clean Air Act which allows for the revocation of a waiver once granted. So according to the law, even if the upcoming EPA run by a dirty air advocate wanted to revoke the waiver, it would have no legal way to do so – it could only refuse to grant a waiver for future requests by California. But since California’s current ACC2 regulation covers model years up until 2035, a refusal to grant a waiver in the next 4 years would likely have little effect.
So it is yet to be seen if the incoming EPA will take the more reasonable approach desired by big auto, doctors, nurses, scientists, environmental groups, other businesses, people who have lungs, and so on; or if it will instead do what big oil, the industry Mr. Trump asked for a $1 billion bribe from and which kills millions of people around the world every year wants him to do. Make your bets now.
Further complicating the issue is that this time, Mr. Trump has a corrupt kangaroo court at his backing, which has routinely ignored the law to legislate from the bench. However, that same court did decide twice in recent days to let California’s clean air rules stand, so let us hope that they continue to see reason in this realm – we’ll have to wait and see.
(Note: this article has been updated from an article last Friday which commented on earlier rumors that the approval was upcoming)
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The Goodwood Festival of Speed happened this weekend, and Ford’s electric SuperTruck managed to beat every other vehicle, gas or electric, to the top of the hill.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a yearly event on the grounds of Goodwood House, a historic estate in West Sussex, England. The event started in 1993, and has become one of the largest motorsports festivals in the world.
Many companies attend Goodwood to debut new models, and enthusiasts or race teams will show off rare or customized vehicles or race unique cars.
One of the central features of the event is the Goodwood hillclimb, a short one-way race up a small hill on the property. The track is only 1.17mi/1.89km long, with a 304ft/92.7m uphill climb. It’s not a particularly taxing event – merely a fun way to show off some classic or unique racing vehicles.
As is often the case, companies brought out several interesting EVs to the event, including Honda’s Super EV concept, the recently-unveiled Hyundai Ioniq 6N, and the upcoming Porsche Cayenne EV, still in camouflage after recently setting an SUV record at another UK hillclimb.
Many of these cars came just to show off, to do a demonstration run up the hill and join the company of the world’s most exotic hypercars.
But some cars show up for the glory, and join “the shootout,” the sprint up the hill for the best time.
And Ford didn’t come to show off, it came to win. And in order to win, it brought…. a truck.
Ford’s SuperTruck is a one-off, 1,400+ horsepower prototype electric vehicle, supposedly based on the F-150 Lightning, but in fact bearing almost no similarity or even resemblance.
It’s been festooned with aerodynamic elements all about, lowered, equipped with race tires, and power output has been boosted to the aforementioned 1,400hp. It was driven by Romain Dumas, who Ford have been using since 2022 to drive their electric prototypes.
For the purposes of a hillclimb, perhaps the most important aspect is the Ford’s electric drive. Hillclimbs are a popular form of racing in Britain, and often consist of a short sprint up a small hill, showcasing acceleration and nimbleness more than anything.
Electric cars do well in this sort of racing due to their instant low-end torque, being able to jump off the line faster than the gas competition. They also tend to have plenty of torque, which helps with carrying them up the hills involved.
EVs do well on longer hillclimbs too, because as races reach higher and higher altitudes, gas cars suffer from reduced power due to less oxygen being available for combustion. EVs don’t suffer from this, so they tend to do well at, say, Pike’s Peak hillclimb – which, incidentally, Ford also brought its SuperTruck to, and also beat everybody at.
This year was not the first time Ford has brought a ridiculous electric chonker to Goodwood. Last year, it brought the SuperVan, which has a similar powertrain to the SuperTruck, and also beat everybody.
The SuperVan’s main competition last year was Subaru’s 670hp “Project Midnight” WRX, piloted by Scott Speed, who Dumas handily defeated by over two seconds, 43.98 to 46.07. And this year, the SuperTruck’s main competition was… the same Subaru, piloted by Speed, who Dumas handily defeated by just under two seconds, 43.23 to 45.03.
Ford did not, however, set an all-time record with the SuperTruck, in fact coming in fifth on the list of fastest runs ever. In front of it are two gas cars and two electric – the gas-powered Gould GR51, a tiny open-wheel race car, with a 42.90; an F1 car driven by Nick Heidfeld that set a 41.6 in 1999; the electric VW ID.R, also piloted by Dumas with a 39.90 (which broke Heidfeld’s 20-year record); and the all-time record holder the electric McMurtry Spierling “fan car,” with a mind-blowing 39.08 in 2019.
You’ll notice something similar about all of these – they’re all small racecars that are actually built for speed, whereas the truck is… a big truck. And yet, Ford still managed to beat every single challenger this year, with its big honker of an EV, because EVs are just better.
Watch the run in full below, starting at 9:34. Blink and you’ll miss it.
And now, if Ford continues its pattern, we’re looking forward to seeing the Super Mustang Mach-E at Goodwood next year, which did well this year at a tough Pike’s Peak, getting first in its class and second overall, likely due to inclement conditions that limited running to the lower portion of the course, limiting the EV’s high-altitude advantages.
Given the Super Mustang is a real racecar, and not a chonky truck, it might even give VW’s ID.R time a run for its money (but, frankly, really has no shot at the overall record, because the Spierling’s “fans” give it an absurdly unbeatable amount of downforce).
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Environment
GM gears up to build low-cost LFP EV batteries in Tennessee after announcing new upgrades
GM is preparing to begin converting production lines at its battery plant in Tennessee later this year for low-cost LFP EV batteries. GM’s joint venture, Ultium Cells, announced additional upgrades at the facility on Monday as it prepares for a new era.
GM will build low-cost LFP EV batteries in the US
After beating out Ford and Hyundai last year to become America’s second-best EV seller, GM is widening its lead in 2025.
Ultium Cells, GM’s joint venture with LG Energy Solution, announced plans to upgrade its Tennessee battery plant on Monday as it prepares to introduce lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cells.
The upgrades build on the $2.3 billion investment announced in April 2021 to convert the facility into a key EV and battery hub. The company initially said the Tennessee plant was “at the heart of GM’s EV strategy,” but that was also when GM was still committed to an all-electric future.
GM will begin converting production lines to accommodate the lower-cost LFP batteries at the facility later this year. By late 2027, the company expects to start commercial production.
With LFP batteries, GM said it’s “targeting significant battery pack cost savings compared to today’s high-nickel battery pack while increasing consumer EV choice.”
The Spring Hill, Tennessee, plant currently employs around 1,300 employees. With the ability to produce multiple chemistries, GM said the facility will “guide the next phase of” its battery strategy.
After choosing Spring Hill for its LFP batteries, the next step, according to GM, is finding a home for lithium manganese-rich batteries. GM recently announced plans to become the first company to produce LMR prismatic battery cells at commercial scale.
Meanwhile, GM’s Warren, Ohio, plant will continue producing NCM batteries, which it says have helped it unlock over 300 miles of range.
Electrek’s Take
GM’s electric vehicle sales more than doubled in the second quarter, led by the hot-selling Chevy Equinox EV. The company sold nearly 46,300 EVs in Q2, up 11% from last year.
Chevy is currently the fastest-growing EV brand in the US, while Cadillac claims to have already achieved “EV leader” status in the luxury segment this year. However, that does not include Tesla.
Even GMC is building momentum with the new Sierra EV, seeing strong initial demand, and Hummer EV sales are picking up.
With new, lower-cost batteries on the way, GM aims to continue narrowing the gap with Tesla. GM offers 13 electric vehicles, covering nearly every segment of the market. It already calls the Chevy Equinox EV “America’s most affordable +315 range EV,” but GM has even lower-priced models on the way, including the next-gen Chevy Bolt EV.
Ready to test drive one for yourself? You can use our links below to find Chevy, Cadillac, and GMC EVs in your area.
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Environment
Elon Musk says Tesla is going to have ‘the most epic demo ever’, but we heard that before
Elon Musk is teasing Tesla doing “the most epic demo ever”, but we heard him claim that before and nothing came of it.
On X last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he was shown something at the Tesla Design Studio and that the company will hold the ” most epic demo ever by the end of the year”:
Just left the Tesla Design Studio. Most epic demo ever by the end of the year. Ever.
I used to get excited about Musk making statements like that, but I was burned one too many times.
In 2016, Musk said this:
Our goal is, and I feel pretty good about this goal, that we’ll be able to do a demonstration drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York … by the end of next year.
The end of 2017 came and went without this demonstration and now in 2025, Tesla can’t do it either.
However, since Musk referenced being at Tesla’s Design Studio, where it mostly works on car designs and advanced features, people are speculating that it’s something else.
A possibility is the next-gen Tesla Roadster, as Musk has made similar comments about it in the past, but they were again about demonstrations that never happened.
Shortly after the unveiling of the next-gen Roadster in 2017, Musk talked about adding cold air thruster to the supercar to allow it to have unprecedented racing performance and even possibly hover over the ground.
In 2019, Musk told me that Tesla aimed to do a demonstration of that by the end of 2020:
5 years later, it never happened, and the Roadster was initially supposed to come to market in 2020. It has never launched.
In 2024, Musk claimed that Tesla would unveil and demo the new Roadster by the end of the year:
It also didn’t happen, and the CEO instead said that Tesla was “close to finalizing design” at the end of 2025.
Electrek’s Take
The comment about the demo makes me think of the Roadster, but it could be something else. Maybe a bot, but I’m not sure out of the design studio.
Either way, for the reasons listed above, it’s hard to get too excited.
You can’t just believe what Musk says these days. Historically, he has been wrong or lied too often, especially about upcoming demonstrations like this new comment.
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