The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to ax credits for vehicles with start-stop technology.
Obama-era regulatory credits benefiting manufacturers for supplying vehicles with engines that automatically shut off when stopped to save gas will be rolled back, according to an EPA spokesperson. Though championed by environmentalists, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin critiqued the feature, writing that “everyone hates it.”
“Start/stop technology: where your car dies at every red light so companies get a climate participation trophy. EPA approved it, and everyone hates it, so we’re fixing it.” Zeldin wrote on X on Monday.
The office is moving to dissolve the fuel economy credits through the reconsideration of greenhouse gas rules announced on March 12 or a separate regulatory action.
“The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is another example of a bureaucratic government program that does not improve air quality. Instead, it costs American businesses and manufacturing millions of dollars, hurting small businesses and the ability to achieve the American Dream,” Zeldin said in the press release, noting that the EPA is reconsidering the program.
The announcement also states that the program is “unlike every other mandatory information collection by EPA under the Clean Air Act” as it is not directly related to a “potential regulation nor developed with that intention.”
Though not mandated, the implementation of these stop-start credits has led to an influx of vehicles with the controversial feature.
In model year 2012, less than 1% of vehicles had the start-stop feature, while in 2021, that figure skyrocketed to 45%, according to the spokesperson. In model year 2022, new vehicles with the feature totaled 65%, according to Battery Council Organization statistics.
There is also some evidence that the stop-start feature can wear on the engine, unless manufacturers ensure otherwise.
“The higher number of stop-start cycles lead to increased engine wear unless steps are taken to prevent it,” Autocar, a UK automobile magazine states. “As a result, car manufacturers and component suppliers have taken many steps to ensure engine wear due to start-stop systems is minimal,” the publication continues.
The start-stop regulatory credits are found under 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 86.1869-12 and were granted by the EPA under the Obama administration in October 2012 as part of the “2017 and Later Model Year Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards” rule.
The EPA created a system to reward carmakers with credits for “off-cycle technologies” that cut down CO2 emissions, but don’t show up fully in emissions tests, according to the official. The stop-start credits are just one of many regulatory credit types created during 2012-2016 under 40 CFR 86.1869-12.
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