Meeting the Mark: Aligning regulations and standards with ZEV targets

An increasing number of governments are announcing timelines to transition new vehicle sales to zero-emission, both in the form of high-level targets as well as binding regulations that will spur more zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales. This paper catalogues targets for new ZEV sales and supply-side vehicle sales regulations—including ZEV sales requirements and performance-based CO₂ and fuel economy standards for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles—in ZEV Transition Council member governments, Australia, Chile, China, and New Zealand.

This paper finds that in many of the largest vehicle markets, targets and binding regulations are either lacking entirely or are not aligned in scope and ambition. Governments have implemented a variety of regulatory approaches to spur the ZEV transition which differ greatly between markets in terms of time horizon and level of ambition. These variances have implications for how much they will drive ZEV sales. The analysis found that regulations for light-duty vehicles are more aligned with sales targets than heavy-duty, but gaps remain between ambition and binding regulation for all vehicle types.

Table. Summary of the alignment of light-duty vehicle standards with ZEV targets

Note: “N/A” for “Standards in line with ZEV goal” indicates that the government does not have a ZEV sales share goal for light-duty vehicles.

Related Content