Clean Car Overview
Vermont’s Advanced Clean Car II (ACC2) rule has been in effect since 2022. This regulation requires 35% of the new cars delivered to Vermont to be battery electric or plug-in electric hybrids in Model Year 2026. This ramps up to 100% of new cars in 2035. This is impossible. It will "take a miracle," according to the auto manufacturers. Only 12% of new vehicles registered in Vermont in 2024 were plug-ins, according to the Vermont Vehicle Index.
Trucks are on a similar trajectory. Vermont’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) Regulation requires manufacturers to sell an increasing percentage of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks, with a goal of 100% zero-emission sales by 2045. The Vermont regulation requires 10% of heavy-duty vehicles to have zero emissions by 2026 and half of all new Class 4-8 trucks sold to have zero emissions by the end of the decade.
Manufacturers who want to ship vehicles with combustion engines to Vermont will have to pay fines or purchase credits. The fine? It is up to $20,000 for every gas vehicle over the limit. The credits? They are almost entirely owned by Tesla.
Manufacturers don’t want to make the richest man in the world even richer. They also can’t put a $20k premium on gas cars sold in Vermont. There are two other options. They can flood the market with electric vehicles that Vermont’s locally owned dealers have to pay for but can’t sell. Or they can deliver fewer gasoline vehicles. This means fewer choices for consumers and fewer sales for Vermont’s vehicle sellers.
Remember, the ultimate flexibility is with the consumer. The regulation does not require them to buy electric. They can still go beyond Vermont’s border and purchase whatever they like if they can’t find the car they want to buy at their local dealer.
So what’s the solution? It’s complicated.
Vermont is allowed to regulate vehicle sales under Section 177 of the Clean Air Act. California successfully applied for a waiver from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow them to adopt a stricter set of vehicle emissions standards than federal regulations. The rule was implemented because of the 2020 Vermont Global Warming Solutions Act. This law requires Vermont to implement a Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. The Clean Car Regulation was part of the Vermont Climate Action Plan and was officially adopted by the Agency of Natural Resources in 2022.
What about the wild card in the White House?
There is speculation that President Trump will remove the waiver that allows California and Vermont to adopt these EV mandates. But remember who benefits from the sale of credits. Tesla has pocketed $11 billion from the sale of regulatory credits to rival automakers.
So how do we get out of this?
The legislature could pass a law. One has already been introduced. H.65 revokes Vermont’s adoption of California’s vehicle emission mandates, preventing state regulators from enforcing stricter-than-federal standards. Or the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources could do it for them, simply repeal the rule.
So why hasn’t this happened yet?
That’s what the House Transportation Vice-Chair wanted to know during a hearing on February 12.
"Would there be any repercussions on us if we said 'Nope, we made a mistake, we want out of this now?’" — Rep. Tim Corcoran (D-Bennington)
“There is a citizen suit provision in the global warming solutions act that allows any person to sue the state if we don’t adopt a rule in the Climate Action Plan. So that would be a consequence.” — Rachel Stevens, Attorney with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Translation: If Vermont doesn’t remove the citizen suit provision and turn Vermont’s emission reduction mandates back into goals, anyone could sue Vermont if we drop out of the California EV mandate. Legislation has also been introduced to solve that problem. H.62 repeals the Global Warming Solutions Act and shifts Vermont’s legally binding greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction requirements back to goals. However, the Chair of the House Energy Committee has declared that any "repeal bills” will not pass.
So what can we do now?
Urge lawmakers to pass H.65 and H.62. If both become law, Vermont will have repealed the EV mandates and removed the threat of a lawsuit for doing so.
