Tesla urges the Trump administration to preserve vehicle emissions standards

On the Dash:

• Tesla urged the Trump administration not to repeal vehicle emissions standards, warning that such a rollback could cost the company billions in regulatory credits.
• The company earned $2.8 billion last year from selling credits to other automakers and has invested heavily in environmentally friendly vehicle features to generate these credits.
• Most traditional automakers support the EPA’s proposed rollback, while Tesla criticizes it for undermining EV incentives and creating an uneven competitive landscape.

Tesla urged the Trump administration on Thursday to maintain vehicle emissions standards and uphold the U.S. findings that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health. The company stated that the EPA’s proposed rollback would allow engine and vehicle manufacturers to avoid reporting and controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

Sign up for CBT News’ daily newsletter and get the latest industry stories delivered straight to your inbox.

The EV maker cautioned that repealing the standards could cost the company billions in regulatory credits, which it sells to other automakers to help them meet emissions targets. Last year, Tesla earned $2.8 billion in global revenue from these credits, highlighting their financial significance. The company also warned that the rollback would weaken the stability of the credit program, reduce the value of performance-based incentives, and create an uneven competitive environment for EV manufacturers.

Earlier this week, most major automakers, including General Motors, Toyota, and Volkswagen, requested that the EPA relax strict vehicle emissions limits designed to promote EV production. Notably, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio criticized the payments made to Tesla as excessive.

Since 2019, Tesla has invested $25 per vehicle in environmentally friendly air conditioning systems to generate regulatory credits, totaling tens of millions of dollars across millions of vehicles in North America.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who had previously served as a close adviser to President Trump, had a public disagreement with the administration earlier this year. The Trump administration recently eliminated fines for automakers that failed to meet fuel efficiency standards for the 2022 model year. In June, Trump signed a resolution blocking California’s plan to phase out gasoline-only vehicle sales by 2035. Meanwhile, Tesla opposed the removal of consumer EV tax credits, which are set to expire on September 30.