GM once supported California’s 2035 EV target. It wisely has second thoughts.
Sanity Prevails
In 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved regulations banning the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and trucks by 2035. GM foolishly supported the idea.
I am pleased to report that sanity has prevailed. The Wall Street Journal reports GM Is Pushing Hard to Tank California’s EV Mandate
“We need your help!” GM said in an email it sent this past week to thousands of its white-collar employees. “Emissions standards that are not aligned with market realities pose a serious threat to our business by undermining consumer choice and vehicle affordability.”
GM, one of the biggest sellers of EVs in the U.S., is encouraging employees to use scripted talking points to lobby Senators. The goal is to nullify a 2022 California measure that would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and trucks by 2035, a mandate that has since been adopted by 11 other states. The Senate could vote as early as next week to revoke a waiver that allows California to set its own stricter tailpipe-emissions standards.
GM set its own internal goal of ending sales of nearly all gas-only vehicles by 2035 and initially supported the California target, while advocating for a uniform national standard.
But the EV market has taken a turn. Three years ago, U.S. automakers couldn’t keep up with demand; now EV sales are beginning to sputter. Discounts are drying up, car buyers are seeking lower-priced alternatives, and Congress is looking to roll back tax credits that for years have powered electric-vehicle sales.
GM abandoned a self-imposed target to build 400,000 electric vehicles by mid-2024, and last year the company said it would delay plans for a new Buick electric vehicle and push back the opening of an EV truck factory. Ford Motor and other automakers have similarly scaled back plans.
“GM believes in customer choice, and we continue to focus on offering the best and broadest portfolio of vehicles on the market,” the spokeswoman said.
The turn against California’s mandate has been bipartisan. When the U.S. House passed a bill identical to the Senate’s earlier this month, 35 Democrats supported the legislation, including two from California.
Rep. Laura Gillen, a Democrat from New York, one of the states to adopt the mandate, said she supports the goal of reducing emissions but that the timeline is “out of touch with reality” and an undue burden on consumers facing a cost-of-living crisis.
“If everybody in my district went out and got an EV, the grid could not accommodate that,” Gillen said.
Hoot of the Day
GM now supports customer choice. Fancy that.
Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act (CRA) which allows Congress to review and potentially overturn federal agency rules.
The maneuver only needs a simple majority and is thus filibuster-proof. Thus, the CRA should pass the Senate easily.
There may be a legal challenge, but I expect Trump will prevail on this one if there is a challenge. If seven Democrats sign on, then this can pass by normal legislation.
Eleven states have adopted California’s mandate and if Democrats take the White House again, they may adopt more nonsensical EV rules.
So it’s best to get 60 votes. But 4 years of sanity is better than none.
Related Posts
April 26, 2024: Ford Loses $132,000 on Each EV Produced, Good News, EV Sales Down 20 Percent
Ford (F) reports a huge loss on every EV. Sales are down 20 percent holding the losses to $1.3 billion.
August 21, 2024: Ford Cancels Plans for Electric SUV, Expects a $1.9 Billion Loss
Say goodbye to a vehicle that never should have been conceived in the first place. Customers don’t want it.
September 14, 2024: Chinese Automakers Are Far Ahead of Ford and GM on Cost and Quality
Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, is very scared of Chinese automakers. He should be. The US trails badly.
Would You Pay $15,000 for this Nice-Looking EV Toyota? Zoomers?
Finally, please consider Would You Pay $15,000 for this Nice-Looking EV Toyota? Zoomers?
I am sure many would say yes, but there’s a catch.
“Three years ago, U.S. automakers couldn’t keep up with demand; now EV sales are beginning to sputter.”
Surprise, surprise: car companies want to survive, not to save the planet, or more accurately, recognise that the world peak in oil production is likely to make them a lot less profitable, whether they go for EVs or try to remain petrol and diesel.
Everybody went for positive thinking and “we can do this if we sing in harmony”. If they had actually done a little bit of modelling of the likely situation, they would have noticed that most energy transition scenarios seem technically doable but most definitely not easily – in other words, not everybody who used to be able to afford a car will be able to afford one in the future. This has little to do with finance and everything to do with the fact that cars are expensive, merely in terms of the amount of industrial capacity that needs to go into making them. And since most people under-use their cars, if we need to cut down making some industrial products because the energy transition isn’t an easy task and bumps are expected, cars are really the most obvious fat to cut.
The markets were always likely to pick on automakers (along with airplane makers and airlines) because their product is expensive, uses preferentially a fuel that is gradually running out, and is often under-used.
What the “American” vehicle industry should do is demand that the actual carbon footprint be included in mandatory MPG windshield signs on all new and used vehicles sold in the US. Obviously the Chinese imported vehicles will be less expensive because they are made under the control of the Chinese Government that reduces the labor costs dramatically. The EPS has the ability to calculate the manufacturing costs of all vehicles sold in the US. Perhaps instead of MPG a better method of comparing vehicles would include the labor costs as well. I have a Chevy Volt. Because it was a successful hybrid, it was discontinued by GM. Our Electric Grid, after the idiotic moves of the previous President, can not support a large quantity of EVs. Try and find a reliable map of charging stations in the US.
Just put a windmill on top of every EV.
nobody cares. Take the bus, ride your bike, walk and leave the rest of us alone.
We should go EV but when market demands it. When solid state batteries get 500+ miles per charge then most customers will buy them. Mandatory though is a step early. GM is always a step behind market.
Two CA refineries are currently planning to shut down next yr, which has expectations of $8+ gas here as a result. The new Burbank airport terminal wants to go net zero, but does not have enough acreage for the required solar panels to do so. A 5 fold electricity increase is expected to occur, over the current terminal. City is mandating that airport parking be 45% EV compliant, with 33% installed charging stations. The city is also under a state mandate of Net Zero compliance by X date.
LA and the rest of California are run by environmental zealots. Those refineries closing will spike inflation everywhere in CA unless the state pulls its head out of its ass.
Here’s some info for comparison purposes:
In April 2025, sales of EVs in China hit 52% of all vehicle sales. This 52% was split 70% EV, and 30% PHEV. At this pace, that means Chinese EV/PHEV sales could reach over 16 million vehicles this year (in a market of 33 million sales). For comparison purposes US auto sales in 2024 were 16.1 million, and China’s were 32.9 million.
One of the reasons for the increase in EV sales is the low prices. Several Chinese EVs are priced below $20,000 US, and the average EV selling price is $33,000, vs an average of $55,000 in the US. Another reason is government incentives for EVs (like free licenses) and disincentives for ICE vehicles (like expensive licenses).
The US currently has 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs. If we dropped all tariffs with China to zero, there would be a flood on inexpensive Chinese EVs into the US. Since this would severely damage the US auto industry, I don’t expect this to happen.
I’m against banning internal combustion vehicles, but shouldn’t states have the right to do stupid shit?
Westinghouse AP300 small modular nuke reactor can provide electric power up to 300,000 homes, AI data centers, remote areas and hurricane disaster areas. It’s cheap, safe and with life expectancy of 80Y. It will provide high paying jobs in western PA and OH. Demand for HQ steel – made in the US – will rise. China makes Instant Pot pressure cookers, Pakistan shirts and Westinghouse will make dozens of AP300 SMR and AP1000 HQ boilers for the Gulf states and third world countries. Chinese SMR can replace coal plants. Old coal mines basins, which were shut decades ago, still release methane to the atmosphere through old pipes from the bottom of the mines to the ground. They produce 50% of the greenhouse gas emission in the US. High paying jobs will plug them. In the last 100Y a few countries digged underground “hubs” with ventilation pipes, electric lines, water….for fighter planes and drones.
And if everything goes as planned,
according to Westinghouse, the first ap300 test unit will be operational in 2033.
Modular nuclear reactor was ready to go at Argonne National Laboratory over 30 years ago. It got algored.
Links please. To the best of my knowledge there was never an SMR “ready to go” at Argonne. They are a research facility only, not a development facility.
Several people have said many times: The people cannot afford green replacements for how we live, therefore we must live without. The Greens and Environmentalists will be perfectly satisfied with 15 minute cities: If you can’t walk (or bicycle) to obtain something you can’t have it. And perfectly satisfied with society’s lower standard of living, and if society gets a less-then-one-child-per-woman birthrate resulting in societal population decline.
I take note of how some factions, such as Greens and LGBTQ, have gained such influence over our government and thus over us. G. Washington and J. Madison warned against that.
Oh yes, the dastardly LGBTQ with their automobile mandates. LMAO!!!
That’s not why they’re dastardly.
We are blessed with oil and NG. In 2006 China’s export/GDP was 37%. Today 20%,
25% of it to subprime nation. If China flips from Export to consumption Xi bureaucrats will not be happy After their RE collapse Xi boosted EV. If we enter a recession oil will be cheaper. Why should we drive EV. If SPX drops to 4K it will retrace 65%/70% of the move from Oct 2023 low to the top. A weak uptrend isn’t likely to send NVDA to $4T, NVDA fantasia in Qatar, the UAE and the Saudis is bad idea. Trump will lose OH and PA. Erdogan grabbed Macron fingers but he can’t subdue Putin. Russian and Wagner forces fought Erdogan forces in Syria and Libya.
I only do an ex-urban drive for holidays. 400km (240mi) range and charging at home would work well. But a out of urban trip would be a problem. So I have an old diesel. Great MPG and the original cost to the planet of it’s manufacture is much less as a sunk cost vs a new EV.
BUT long term there will be no cheap oil.
The US imports heavy crude from Canada as it has little of it’s own reserves left. That is just 150 years after being introduced as a commercial product !!!
Now the US is booming on fracking, but a major company is already saying peak production is maybe 3 years away.
So the US has to keep courting dictators, invading countries or maybe do something about producing energy internally without oil.
The problem is there no way someone who isn’t already well off and lives in a wealthy nation can access the savings from using an EV. People in apartments, inner cities and rural cannot. The grids are not built to handle the load. It requires a huge government commitment when infrastructure across the West is already decrepit.
Empires are built by new technology and innovation. But when those technologies are surpassed the old empires fail as they have too much sunk cost in old tech. world.
They should replace all of the foreign dictators with Bernie and Lizzie.
“GM once supported California’s 2035 EV target. It wisely has second thoughts.”
The “wisdom” has come as the blowing of the winds changed. If democrats take congress and presidency at the next election, I’m sure GM will “wise” up and switch back to being friendly to democratic policies.
The same is true for all those companies “promising” (wink/nod) to bring back manufacturing to the US. And all those businesses “promising” to cancel their DEI programs.
Virtually all major corporations rely on their sugar daddy (big government) to fleece the taxpayer and reap profits so they do “wise” up and follow the money.
CA has been on forefront of mandating rules and also nullifying federal laws for at least 30 years now. cannabis and emissions laws are a few examples. as goes CA, the empire follows.
– Sanity Prevails
> Sanity will prevail, once Democrats start acting like Americans.
– In 2022, Gavin Newsom approved regulations banning the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and trucks by 2035.
> Newsom has been acting foolish enough with His trains to nowhere, but now banning GV’s and Pushing EV’s down people’s throats, has cemented His Idiocy once and for all. Most CA. Residents can’t even afford an EV, and certainly not the disposal cost of the battery when it arrives, so they will get tossed in the pond, lake, ocean or wherever…
– GM foolishly supported the idea. > Obviously promised $$$ in some fashion I suspect, via Union Leaders or some disgusting eerily similar promise, again I would guess…
– GM: “We need your help!” > Of course You Do NOW!! You got played, by the System, so your Union Members got played by You Via “The System” and NOW you NEED HELP? Maybe You should have thought about that before siding with the wrong people and with the wrong ideas. Now you’re in too deep, and they will not low you to change your mind now!! You Lose! Explain this to the People who get let go (lower rung workers of course), and explain to them how You “Sold Them Out” but got shafted yourself, because your far too greedy, and manipulative. If it wasn’t for the good people losing jobs I would wish for GM to Vanish!
– But the EV market has taken a turn (REALITY has set in). Three years ago, U.S. automakers couldn’t keep up with demand (False Demand led by a manufactured push by various entities (Rental for Ex.)now EV sales are beginning to sputter (Too expensive). Discounts are drying up,(Taxpayers Subsidies Via The Government are Gone!) car buyers are seeking lower-priced alternatives (As I said too expensive) and Congress is looking to roll back tax credits that for years have powered electric-vehicle sales. (Rug Pulled Out)!!!
“If everybody in my district went out and got an EV, the grid could not accommodate that,” Gillen said. > So THEY KNEW all along that it couldn’t, wouldn’t and simply won’t work, no matter how many they sell, and actually GET WORSE as they sold more and more… So Disingenuous!!!
Hoot of the Day: GM now supports customer choice. Fancy that. > You just can’t make SH#& like this up…
The Coming A.I. Catastrophe for Middle America’s Gen ZA generation raised online is unprepared for the tools reshaping the economy—and neither schools nor employers are stepping in fast enough.
https://observer.com/2025/05/heartland-gen-z-is-unprepared-for-the-ai-revolution/
I hope the Senate avoids the issue of EV rules in California. Let the good people of California live within the constraints the politicians that THEY have elected imposed upon them. It might do them good to get an education fir a change
There are 11 other states who passed legislation to adhere to these EV rules set forth by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), a group of unelected officials. This is a fundamental violation of democracy and federalism where every state law is to be passed by elected officials in that state or by the Federal government. Future CARBs rules and regs would become automatic unless the CT state legislature decided to void it. That’s a violation of CT’s state Constitution.
Well then why did the voters of CT elect the politicians that passed these laws you refer to?
Rigged perhaps? I will not rush to judgment on the CA. voters just yet. They appear to be finally getting absolutely sickened by the behavior of there Politicians. I know hard to believe, but I have read a variety of articles, and heard talks of such. Even Gavin Newsom is taking shots, and He was their “Golden Boy” The camel can only carry so much…
We should let Mexican made BYD electric vehicles into the U. S. with zero tariffs. Competition in the electric vehicle market would really kick off!
Just say NO to Trojan Pandas
Tesla can make cars in China, and not in partnership.
BYD cannot even think of setting up manufacturing in the US.
If that happened, the post-pandemic price hikes on all vehicles would come down.
Luckily, the statistic bureau made a hedonic adjustment and voila, no inflation.
You had me at “California”.