Even with electric vehicle incentives and other provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. will miss its 2030 emissions target under the Paris climate agreement, according to a white paper released Tuesday by the International Council on Clean Transportation, in partnership with Energy Innovation.

In April 2021, President Joe Biden committed the U.S. to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% below 2005 levels come 2030. The administration’s strategies to reduce transportation emissions included incentives for purchasing personal EVs, funding to build out the nation’s EV charging network, reductions in tailpipe emissions and investments in alternative transportation options, including transit, passenger rail, biking and pedestrian infrastructure.

While the Inflation Reduction Act will help exceed the administration’s goal for EVs to account for half of all light-duty vehicle sales in 2030, the report found that electric vehicles would have to amount to two-thirds of sales that year, coupled with 3.5% annual increases in the efficiency of internal combustion engine vehicles, in order to comply with the Paris agreement goals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is finalizing standards to strengthen greenhouse gas emissions regulations for passenger cars and light trucks through 2026 and plans to toughen emissions regulations for heavy-duty vehicles through 2030.

“Stringent standards from EPA is a really critical way to push the industry to meet those targets and enable us to realize these rates of electrification,” said Stephanie Searle, U.S. director at ICCT.

Read the full article about electric vehicles by Dan Zukowski at Smart Cities Dive.