Four Automakers Strike Emissions Deal with California, Defying Trump Admin.

Ford Motor Co, BMW AG, Volkswagen AG and Honda Motor Co said they will voluntarily recognize the state’s authority to set vehicle rules.

Mary Nichols, who chairs the California Air Resources Board, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that the four automakers sought regulatory certainty and had agreed not to legally challenge the state’s vehicle regulatory authority.

“They didn’t want to face the expense, distraction, and the bad publicity that comes from being part of a big rollback on clean cars,” she said.

The Trump administration in August 2018 proposed revoking California’s legal right to impose its own state emissions standards or require a rising number of electric vehicles.  The Trump administration argues that federal law should preempt California from setting its own emissions rules.
...
Under the compromise struck with the four automakers, the stringency of the requirements would increase at a nationwide average annual rate of 3.7% annually starting in the 2022 model year through 2026, and 1% of that annual improvement could be covered by credits awarded for building electrified vehicles.

Read more at Four Automakers Strike Emissions Deal with California, Defying Trump Admin.