Under a revised plan, the EPA is expected to adopt a less-aggressive pace of emissions reductions followed by more stringent cuts after the 2029 model year, according to reports.
Harto said the approach could be similar to the "Alternative 3" option included in the EPA's draft rule.
That alternative would still require a 56 percent reduction in new-vehicle emissions by 2032 but relaxes the stringency in the earlier model years. For example, it requires an 11 percent emissions reduction in the 2027 model year and a 17 percent reduction in the 2032 model year compared with the EPA's desired proposal requirement of 18 percent in 2027 and 11 percent in 2032.
The alternative also modifies the EV sales ramp-up, with solely battery-powered vehicles projected to make up 54 percent of new-vehicle sales by 2030 and 68 percent by 2032, according to the proposal.
In comments submitted to the agency last year, Ford Motor Co. said Alternative 3—with minor adjustments—was the "most reliable way" to reach the EPA's EV sales projections in 2032.
Kia Corp. in its comments called the alternative "grossly overly optimistic" and "harmful, but the least harmful, to auto makers, the EV market, and consumers," citing the option's more consistent rate of stringency and more realistic slope of consumer acceptance.
Stellantis said Alternative 3 takes a "more rational approach" to emissions reductions but also shared concerns that the option still exceeds auto makers' EV commitments.
"Pace matters," said John Bozzella, CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents a broad swath of industry players planning to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in electrification.
"The next three or four years are critical for the development of the EV market as we move beyond early adopters," he said in a statement. "Give the market and supply chains a chance to catch up, maintain a customer's ability to choose, let more public charging come online, let the industrial credits and Inflation Reduction Act do their thing and impact the industrial shift."