Minnesota Adopts CARB Standards
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Minnesota is the latest state — and the first in the Midwest — to adopt California’s stricter tailpipe emission standards and mandate for automakers to get more zero-emission vehicles onto sales lots.
The rules don’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2024, for 2025 models, so Minnesotans likely will not see an immediate burst of new electric vehicle options at dealerships. But the adoption sends a clear signal, and vehicle selection is expected to expand in the next 18 months.
Notice of official adoption of the rules was posted July 26 in the Minnesota State Register.
Tackling climate change is not easy. But our state is ready to create a better climate for Minnesotans. Thanks to the tireless work from our legislators, @MnPCA, and companies like @PhillipsTemro, you see that commitment in action as our Clean Cars initiative goes into effect. pic.twitter.com/Prpg6ykA3q — Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) July 27, 2021
Gov. Tim Walz pushed hard for the clean car standards as part of his broader effort to combat the climate crisis and get Minnesota back on track to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals set years ago by lawmakers.
Transportation is the state’s leading source of heat-trapping global warming emissions, but electric vehicle sales have been minuscule in Minnesota.
That likely will change with Minnesota’s new standards, and Walz marked the occasion with a quick victory lap tour at Phillips & Temro Industries — and a hockey analogy. The company makes battery warmers and home and commercial electric vehicle charging equipment at its Eden Prairie plant.
“Minnesotans certainly know that old adage, ‘You need to skate where the puck is going to be, ” Walz told reporters after the tour. “The puck is going to be in EV vehicles, and that is irrefutable.”
Walz was flanked by lawmakers and community leaders who advocated for the standards. Raj Rajan, chairman of the board of directors at St. Paul-based nonprofit Fresh Energy, said the new rules will stimulate clean energy investments, support jobs and improve public health, particularly for people of color disproportionately impacted by the air pollution from vehicles.
Gov. Tim Walz (left) and Tom Moser by Tribune News Service.
“It’s a big step in terms of opportunities,” Rajan said.
Phillips & Temro Industries CEO Tom Moser said the company’s electric vehicle unit is growing. It added 50 jobs in that unit over the past three years, Moser said, and plans to add 200 to 500 jobs in the unit over the next three to five years.
“We’re starting to hit an inflection point,” Moser said.
Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case, on hand for the event, said the suburb plans to replace its entire fleet with electric vehicles by 2030. The Eden Prairie Police Department got its first Tesla squad car last week, he said, and the officers are jostling to drive it.
“We’re going to take great notes and see how it works,” Case said.
Walz’s move to amp up vehicle electrification prompted serious opposition and a costly fight. The state’s auto dealers campaigned against the regulation, and Senate Republicans threatened to withhold state environmental funding until the 11th hour in their unsuccessful effort to force the state to ditch the standards.
More than a dozen states have adopted California’s standards under the Clean Air Act. The Trump administration took action to undo those standards, but federal agencies under the Biden administration are expected to reinstate them.
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