Electric Vehicle Regulations and Laws: A Primer for Decision Makers

This guide provides an overview of state and federal regulations and laws governing electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the United States, specifically detailing compliance requirements for manufacturers, fleet operators, and transportation companies.

• The Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) regulation aims to lower emissions by increasing EV sales through the Zero-Emission Vehicle and Low-Emission Vehicle programs. Compliance is required for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that sell more than 4,500 light- and medium-duty vehicles annually, though small-volume OEMs selling fewer than 4,500 such vehicles in California are exempt until the 100 percent ZEV mandate begins in 2035.
• The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation requires OEMs of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to sell zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs) or near-zero-emissions vehicles (NZEVs), such as plug-in electric hybrids, as an increasing percentage of annual sales from 2024 to 2035. OEMs selling more than 500 vehicles per year must report annual sales within the state, while those selling 500 or fewer heavy-duty trucks are exempt from selling ZEVs or NZEVs and do not accrue deficits.
• The Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation mandates that certain fleets adopt an increasing percentage of ZEVs, including battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell, and long-range plug-in electric hybrid medium- and heavy-duty trucks. Compliance applies to public fleets owned by state and local government agencies, drayage truck fleets operating at intermodal rail yards or California ports, and private company fleets with more than 50 trucks or over $50 million in annual revenue.
• The Climate Milestone Standard (CMS) requires ridehailing service providers in California to adopt ZEVs, targeting zero emissions from passenger miles traveled and 90 percent of all vehicle miles traveled (VMT) powered by EVs by 2030. This applies to autonomous vehicle providers and transportation network companies (TNCs) with more than 5 million VMTs per year; those with fewer than 5 million VMTs are exempt.
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed regulations to reduce emissions for light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles. For light-duty fleets, the proposed average target is 82 grams/mile of CO2 by model year (MY) 2032, a 51 percent reduction from MY 2026 standards. For medium-duty vehicles, the target is 275 grams/mile of CO2 by MY 2032, a 44 percent reduction from MY 2026 standards. Proposed heavy-duty standards for vocational vehicles and tractors would begin in MY 2027, with a 'Phase 3' program introducing progressively lower standards through 2032.

APA

RMI (2023). Electric Vehicle Regulations and Laws: A Primer for Decision Makers. https://rmi.org/resources/electric-vehicle-regulations-and-laws-a-primer-for-decision-makers/

Chicago

RMI. Electric Vehicle Regulations and Laws: A Primer for Decision Makers. 2023. https://rmi.org/resources/electric-vehicle-regulations-and-laws-a-primer-for-decision-makers/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Electric Vehicle Regulations and Laws: A Primer for Decision Makers |date=24 July 2023 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/electric-vehicle-regulations-and-laws-a-primer-for-decision-makers/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2023electric, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Electric Vehicle Regulations and Laws: A Primer for Decision Makers}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2023}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/electric-vehicle-regulations-and-laws-a-primer-for-decision-makers/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }