Letters to the President
Automotive dealerships, in a reprise of a tactic they used in November 2023 and February 2024, have sent a letter to President Trump asking him to repeal the federal EPA mileage standards codified during the Biden Administration, along with the ability of California to set its own standards. The federal standards are due to take effect in 2027 and phase 2 of the CA standards, referred to as Advanced Clean Cars II, begin with the 2026 model year.
5458 dealerships have signed this letter. 62 of them are from Connecticut. In some cases there are multiple dealerships from the same company, and these numbers represent individual dealership locations. The CT dealerships signing the letter are listed at the bottom of this post.
Policy Headwinds
The dealerships are piling on at a time when the current administration is already doing all it can to dismantle the Inflation Reduction Act EV incentives, has frozen (likely illegally) further disbursement of the NEVI funds that are being used to expand charging infrastructure that come via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and when there are multiple bills before the state legislature that seek to remove EV purchase and charging incentives.
EV Sales Still Increasing
Despite these policy headwinds, and a number of states having imposed often punitive EV registration taxes, Kelley Blue Book reports that EV sales were up 30% year over year in January and Cox Automotive forecasts continued EV growth in 2025 with declining sales of ICE vehicles.
What Free Market
The dealerships claim that the regulations are outpacing consumer demand. “Let the free market reign,” they say. But what about that free market? David Roberts of Volts podcast fame has said that when new regulations are proposed that entrenched incumbents dislike, that is labeled as interference with the free market. However, when existing regulations are questioned, examples could be subsidies given to fossil fuels and prohibitions against direct sales, they act as if those regulations are “descended from the heavens,” and, of course, have to remain. Fuel economy standards have done much to reduce emissions (and save drivers money). Should we not have them, or only have standards that are dealership approved?
There are 270 dealerships in CT, so 62 is not all of them. And we always bear in mind that some dealerships do a good job of selling EVs. These are the dealership signatories. They are our neighbors who are actively working against the electrification of transportation to mitigate climate change and improve our air quality.
