Nebraska AG launches attack on California’s electric vehicle market

Nebraska’s attorney general is fighting what he calls a “three-pronged attack” from truck manufacturers, California Regulators and the Biden administration to displace diesel engines in favor of electric trucks.

Attorney General Mike Hilgers filed a lawsuit this week against the nation’s four largest heavy-duty truck makers, alleging they colluded in an “industry conspiracy” with California environmental regulators to phase out medium- and heavy-duty liquid-fuel trucks.

The lawsuit filed in state court names Daimler; Navistar International, owned by Volkswagen’s Traton truck division; Pacar; Volvo Group North America; and industry trade group the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association as defendants.

Heart	Security	Last	Change	Change %
DRUY	DAIMLER TRUCK HOLDING AG	19.25	+0.23	+1.18%
PCAR	PACCAR INC.	114.75	+0.70	+0.61%
LOSSES	TRATON SE	31/07	-1.46	-4.49%
VLVLY	Volvo AB	24.67	+0.29	+1.19%

Hilgers told Fox Business that the four companies openly admitted to “collusion in classic antitrust fashion.”

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It states that their goal is to “reduce – ultimately altogether – the production of gas-powered vehicles and move us away from these vehicles and towards an electric future time horizon, which is both impossible and highly impractical, but will also lead to increased costs for logistics companies and, ultimately, consumers.”

As evidence, the lawsuit points to a July 2023 agreement reached between the California Air Resources Board (CARB), major truck manufacturers and an association of truck and engine manufacturers called the Clean Truck Partnership that gave manufacturers flexibility to meet the state’s stringent emissions standards .

According to CARB, the companies have committed to standards “that will require the sale and adoption of zero-emission technologies in the state, regardless of whether any other entity challenges California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act.” The board, in turn, agreed to give these companies a “reasonable lead time” to meet their requirements before imposing new regulations.

CARB, Navistar, Volvo Group North America and Paccar declined to comment.

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Hilgers characterized the agreement as an open admission of collusion to eliminate gas-powered vehicles.

“They want to reduce the production of gas and diesel trucks to zero in the blink of an eye,” he said, adding that the parties involved want to “push the future towards electric vehicles without a citizen vote.” , without Congress action, without a free market.

“It finally is classic violation of antitrust law”

Nebraska seeks to terminate Clean Truck Partnership Agreement.

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In March 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved California’s plans to increase the number of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks. California is still awaiting EPA approval of its Advanced Clean Fleet regulations for phasing into service zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and light-duty package delivery vehicles. This provision would require manufacturers to produce only zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks starting in 2036.

In May, Nebraska and 16 other states sued CARB over its clean fleet rules. Hilgers said a mandatory switch to zero-emission vehicles would be a “radical change to our system” that would lead to higher prices, bankrupt several logistics companies and add “a huge electrical burden to an already stressed power grid.” He also suggested that the transition may not be feasible.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last year that by 2035, half of all heavy trucks sold in the Golden State would be electric. State regulators intend to require all medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2045, where possible.

While the EPA under Biden has remained supportive of California’s plans, Hilgers told FOX Business he expects the incoming Trump administration “will have more common sense.”

Reuters contributed to this report.