CLEVELAND — Thousands of dealerships are asking the Biden administration to pump the breaks on a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal to get more EVs on the road.
Pat Primm's family has been in the car business since 1969.
“We are very involved in the car industry from a dealership standpoint and from the NADA to our trade associations standpoint,” said Primm, a partner at Cascade Auto Group.
After the pandemic and the chip shortage, they're finally starting to see consistent sales.
“Things are looking fairly promising for the for the market,” said Primm.
But, what has them concerned is this push to sell more electric cars.
“The only thing the industry is worried about is how fast this is rolling out,” said Primm.
Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Proposed new federal vehicle emissions standards to accelerate the number of electric cars on the roads. Chris Yuan, a professor with Case Western, said the push is for better air quality.
“If we could replace some of the commercial vehicles with EVs that could help to mitigate the global warming crisis,” Yuan said.
To add, Friday, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb also backed the EPA's new proposal.
“We call on the EPA to enact the strongest possible clean car standards,” Bibb continued. “We're working to expand our charging stations across the city, we're also working to incentivize the adoptions of more clean EV cars.”
Included in the plan for vehicles in 2027-2032 is a requirement of 60% of all new car sales to be electric by 2030 and 67% by 2032.
“Unfortunately, the consumers might not be buying in as fast as is necessary to make this work,” said Primm.
A coalition of 4,000 dealerships nationwide, including 200 in Ohio, wrote two letters to the Biden administration asking them to pump the breaks on the proposal, arguing that customers aren't ready for the switch due to unsolved challenges with EV sales at 8%.
Writing the following in their letter:
Wait for the battery supply chain to develop outside the control of China. Wait for the charging infrastructure to support a significant increase in electric vehicles. And wait for the American consumer to make the choice to buy an electric vehicle.
“As an everyday car, there are definitely some limitations. So, we need to figure that out, plus the electric cars available today are a little pricey,” said Primm.
Primm said some of his customers still aren't confident in electric cars, reiterating that the car industry just needs a slower transition for this to work.
“The important thing is the auto industry is not anti-electric cars. We just want the administration to give us the rules and the regulations and the support to go at an acceptable level that the consumer will buy into, not a force it on the consumer,” said Primm.
The EPA proposal is still under review and could be finalized by March.
