Good News: Motorhomes Still Considered Vocational Vehicles In New EPA Standards

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its long-awaited Phase III greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for both heavy-duty (HD) vehicles and medium-duty (MD) vehicles for model years 2027-2032. In good news for the RV industry, it was announced that heavy-duty motorhomes will continue to be treated as custom chassis vocational vehicles, a previous victory secured by the RV Industry Association’s government affairs team. Being considered a vocational vehicle means the standards are easier to meet. Specifically, heavy-duty motorhomes will be required to meet a standard of 226 grams/ton-mile through model year 2032, a very slight decrease from the current standard of 228 g/ton-mile.

In other actions in the rulemaking which will not impact motorhomes, EPA is proposing to promulgate revised certain GHG standards for MY 2027. They are also proposing to eliminate the MY 2027 advanced technology incentives for certain electric highway HD vehicles, as well as adding warranty requirements for batteries and other components of ZEVs.

EPA will hold a public hearing on this rulemaking proposal on May 2 - 3, 2023 and, if necessary, May 4, 2023.

For further information on the EPA Phase III standards regulation, please contact Michael Ochs, RVIA Director of Government Affairs, at mochs@rvia.org.