WASHINGTON— Major automakers are selling millions of gas guzzlers and a relative handful of electric and other clean vehicles, making little progress against pollution, according to the Automotive Trends Report released today by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Auto companies claim they’re chugging ahead with electric vehicles, but the EPA’s report shows they’re more like the caboose claiming to be the engine,” said Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign. “A scant 4% of 2021 vehicles were EVs. And automakers deserve an ‘F’ for cutting emissions a paltry 0.6% compared to 2020, far short of the annual 5% improvement they promised President Obama in 2012.”

Final decisions are approaching on how to strengthen new auto pollution rules that the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, will propose next spring.

“Automakers won’t slash pollution and improve gas mileage unless strong standards make them do so,” said Becker. “Without strong rules from President Biden, automakers will keep pushing gas guzzlers, sticking consumers with high gas bills and spewing pollution. By issuing strong new rules, the administration can take the single biggest step of any nation to fight climate change, slashing auto pollution and requiring automakers to mass-produce clean electric vehicles.”

Here are the key details in the Trends report:

• Automakers failed to improve gas mileage, which remains at 25.4 mpg. They cut carbon emissions by just 2 grams, a mere 0.6% — far short of the annual 5% improvement auto companies promised in 2012.
• The three U.S.-based manufacturers — Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler), GM, and Ford — again delivered the worst fuel efficiency and spewed the most pollution of all carmakers.
• Gas-guzzling SUVs and pickups continued to replace more efficient cars, cancelling out what little progress has been made on individual vehicle efficiency. Cars were a mere 31% of 2021 vehicle production. Horsepower, size and vehicle weight increased to their highest levels ever.
• Only 4% of 2021 vehicles were electric or plug-in hybrids. The EPA estimates that that will rise to 7% in 2022.
• Only six companies — Tesla, Honda, Ford, Subaru, Toyota and Volvo — met emissions standards without resorting to loopholes. Rather than delivering required gas mileage, the others either bought credits or earned them by installing features like rooftop solar panels that don’t actually improve emissions.
• Five companies — Hyundai, Mazda, Volkswagen, GM and Stellantis — delivered worse fleet-wide gas mileage and emissions than they did five years ago.
• Automakers largely failed to install widely available technology, such as continuously variable transmissions, turbochargers and hybrid systems, which significantly improve gas mileage and emissions.