{"id":18375,"date":"2018-01-16T15:37:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T20:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/?p=18375"},"modified":"2018-01-16T15:37:20","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T20:37:20","slug":"leadership-the-auto-industrys-missing-ingredient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/climate411\/2018\/01\/16\/leadership-the-auto-industrys-missing-ingredient\/","title":{"rendered":"Leadership: The auto industry\u2019s missing ingredient"},"content":{"rendered":"

The automotive industry\u2019s capacity for innovation and marketing are on full display this month. Between the Consumer Electronic Show<\/a> and the North American International Auto Show<\/a>, every day brings a new story about the rapid development of vehicle technology. The industry possesses the know-how and ability to deliver on the zero-emissions future if it wants to.<\/p>\n

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A Ford at an electric car charging station in Buffalo, NY. Photo by Fortunate4now<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Behind the headlines of engineering feats and product plans, though, is a disturbing fact. The industry is undermining its own innovation. It\u2019s doing this through a campaign to dramatically weaken the central tool we have to move cleaner technology into the fleet \u2013 protective greenhouse gas reduction and fuel efficiency standards<\/a> for new cars and passenger trucks.<\/p>\n

Well-designed federal standards foster the deployment of fuel saving solutions<\/a>. With the certainty of long-term standards in place, manufacturers are able to make the necessary investments to scale these solutions into the fleet. Scaled production further drives down costs, enhancing automaker profitability and consumer payback.<\/p>\n

This cycle has been in full view over the past several years as automakers have brought to market ever more efficient vehicles with record sales and strong profitability<\/a>. An exhaustive technical analysis<\/a> completed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and California Air Resources Board found that automakers were well positioned to deliver even more fuel efficiency and emissions progress in the years ahead.<\/p>\n

With this robust technical underpinning, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a determination to maintain the existing 2022 to 2025 standards. Back in 2012, EPA finalized these standards with the broad support of the automotive industry. But fast forward to today, and the automotive industry is pushing for the Trump Administration to reconsider this determination<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This has set up a year of incongruity where the industry\u2019s position that the standards need to be re-examined are consistently contradicted by its product announcements. In just this past year, automakers have made the following announcements:<\/p>\n