How a bigger cars and trucks are stalling progress on curbing emissions.

As the revolution toward clean, renewable energy continues, the transportation sector has become the largest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Therefore, it’s especially troubling that emissions from passenger vehicles could have dropped by 30% over the past 12 years. If only consumers had continued to buy the same-sized cars.

Instead, an increasing share of passenger vehicles sold are trucks and SUVs, and as a result, progress on controlling carbon emissions from passenger vehicles has stalled out.

In theory, electrification of these vehicles presents a potential way out for this problem. It’s worth keeping in mind, however, that the battery needed to move an unnecessarily oversized vehicle requires substantially more electric production than a smaller car requires. “Heavier vehicles require more energy to move around, and so, until the world is operating on zero-carbon electricity, the more an EV weighs, the more emissions it will produce. Indeed, with electric vehicles, the weight problem is compounded: bigger cars need heavier batteries, which adds to their weight.”

Our work

In September, two NCLCV staff testified before the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Our staff highlighted the importance of stricter policies on vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards for passenger cars and trucks. One such policy is the new federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for vehicles sold in model year 2027 and beyond. The Biden-Harris administration designed the new standards to improve fuel economy for new cars sold in the United States.

As we continue the transition to electric vehicles, we must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels from all angles. Gas powered vehicles are beginning their decline. We need to make sure new cars hitting the road are the most efficient they can possibly be.

Additionally, more fuel efficient vehicles will lower costs for drivers at the pump. Climate action advocacy suggests it’s time to make a public education pushback against the current mania for ever-larger vehicles.