VW Says CO2 Regs Pose 'Greatest Challenge.' According to E&E News, “Climate regulations could prevent Volkswagen AG from turning a profit, the company said Wednesday. The European Union is seeking tougher vehicle emissions targets and threatening fines for automakers that fall short. Car companies are racing to develop electric vehicles in response, but VW said there’s a research and development bottleneck that comes with ‘heavy financial demands.’ ‘The CO2 fleet targets will certainly pose the greatest challenge for us as a company until the year 2020,’ VW brand CEO Herbert Diess said. The company said its profitability could stall until 2020 as compliance costs cancel out rising sales.” [E&E News, 3/16/18 (=)]

 

EPA Likely To Punt On MY21 GHG Rule Changes, But Final Policy Murky. According to Inside EPA, “EPA is unlikely to call for changes to model year 2021 passenger vehicle GHG requirements as part of its upcoming determination, expected within weeks, that its current rules for MY22-25 are not ‘appropriate’ and should be weakened, sources say, in what could be at least a temporary victory for opponents of softening those rules. However, observers tracking the issue say it is premature to conclude the Trump administration will not seek to weaken MY21 requirements as part of a subsequent rulemaking to revise its current standards, which would be conducted alongside a Department of Transportation rule setting vehicle fuel economy limits. EPA’s upcoming determination also comes amid broader uncertainty about how and when it and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will coordinate on proposed regulatory changes. While sources cite signs of some tensions between the two agencies over timing and assumptions behind the upcoming rules, observers also assume the agencies will jointly issue specific proposed changes. ‘I don’t think EPA is going to touch’ MY21, one source says, referencing the scope of EPA’s upcoming determination that is expected to call for changes to current MY22-25 vehicle GHG standards. This point was echoed by other observers. However, observers suggest that even if EPA drops MY21 in the upcoming determination, that would not foreclose future steps to change final MY21 standards, a step that would be of particular benefit to domestic automakers that sell a lot of large trucks, given a significant jump in stringency of the requirements in that year.” [Inside EPA, 3/15/18 (=)]