FFIE - EPA proposes aggressive new 'clean vehicle' standards projects EV acceleration

2023-04-12 12:15:03 ET

As expected , the Environmental Protection Agency proposed an ambitious new set of vehicle emissions standards that could be a boost to electric vehicles.

The agency projects the proposals to reduce CO2 emissions by 10 billion tons, “while saving thousands of dollars over the lives of the vehicles meeting these new standards.” The standards are also expected to provide the benefit of cutting American dependence on foreign oil. In all, the proposals are slated to reduce oil imports by approximately 20 billion barrels.

The agency highlighted a tripling of EV sales since 2020, a 40% increase in public chargers available for these autos, and billions in investments by automakers like Ford ( NYSE: F ), General Motors ( NYSE: GM ), Tesla ( NASDAQ: TSLA ), and more. The agency projects that EVs could account for 67% of new light-duty vehicle sales and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales in 2032, bolstered by the EPA proposals.

Overall, the EPA estimates that the benefits of the proposed standards would exceed costs by at least $1 trillion.

“Between 2027 and 2055, the total projected net benefits of the light- and medium-duty proposal range from $850 billion to $1.6 trillion,” the agency said in a statement. “The proposal is expected to avoid 7.3 billion tons of CO2 emissions through 2055, equivalent to eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions from the entire current U.S. transportation sector for four years and would also deliver significant health benefits by reducing fine particulate matter that can cause premature death, heart attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, aggravated asthma, and decreased lung function.”

Despite the proposals projected benefit for EV manufacturers, shares of Tesla ( TSLA ) -1.39% , Rivian Automotive ( RIVN ) -1.89% , Faraday Future Intelligent Electric ( FFIE ) -4.07% , Lucid Group ( LCID ) -1.3% , Fisker ( FSR ) -2.14% , Lordstown Motors ( RIDE ) -1.66% , and Mullen Automotive ( MULN ) -4.37% slid on Wednesday. Additionally, charging point providers EVgo ( EVGO ) -3.03% , Blink Charging ( BLNK ) -2.5% , and ChargePoint Holdings ( CHPT ) -2.11% . Canoo ( GOEV ) broke with the trend by rising 4.91% .

Elsewhere, Chinese automakers also dipped on Wednesday, with Nio Inc. ( NIO ) -5.25% leading peers like Xpeng ( XPEV ) -4.57% on the way down. European automakers BMW ( OTCPK:BMWYY ) and Volkswagen ( OTCPK:VWAGY ) marked modest gains.

Read more on why Investing Groups leader Danil Sereda sees Nio as a Strong Sell .

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