EPA issues new auto rules aimed at cutting carbon emissions, boosting electric vehicles and hybrids

The Biden administration has announced new automobile emissions standards that officials call the most ambitious plan ever to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles. The new rules relax initial tailpipe limits proposed last year but eventually reach nearly the same strict standards set out by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rules announced Wednesday come as sales of electric vehicles, which are needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. The auto industry cited lower sales growth in objecting to the earlier EPA proposal. Under its final rule, the industry could meet the limits if 56% of new vehicle sales are electric by 2032, along with 13% plug-in hybrids or other partially electric cars and more efficient gasoline-powered cars.