ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Auto Dealers Association today requested Governor Walz pause the California Car rulemaking process as events in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere continue to unfold and calling into question the need for Minnesota to adopt the California standards.

“The political and marketplace landscape for Greenhouse Gas Emissions standards and electric vehicle mandates has changed substantially since the Governor first announced this initiative in September of 2019,” said Scott Lambert, president of the Minnesota Auto Dealers Association.

“The Biden Administration has announced plans to tighten emissions and fuel economy standards. In addition, General Motors signaled last week their plans to offer a full electric fleet by 2035 which coincides with California’s intention to ban gas powered vehicles by then,” continued Lambert.

“All of these actions speak for the need to pump the brakes on the Administration’s drive to tie Minnesota to California’s standards. If they are about to accomplish what they sought on a national level, why bind Minnesota to the well-documented economic downside of the California Car rules?” he asked.

“Currently, dealers sell approximately 2,000 EVs a year,” Lambert said. “Under the California Car mandate, dealers would have over 18,000 electric vehicles dropped annually onto their lots. But demand and infrastructure limitations cannot support such an artificially high supply.”

“Meanwhile, the complexities of conforming to California Car rules will limit the supply of vehicles that are in high demand in Minnesota.”

“The Governor should pause his rulemaking efforts,” Lambert said, “see what the intentions of the Biden Administration are, and work with business and environmental interests to come up with a practical Minnesota based solution.”