Minnesota Auto Dealers Sue Walz To Stop California Car Mandates

The Minnesota Auto Dealers Association (MADA) has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Walz administration’s attempt to force Minnesota to comply with California car mandates.

These rules include a Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standards that would force cars to meet California’s gas mileage standards, and a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) standard, which would force auto manufacturers to supply more electric cars in Minnesota whether there is a market demand for the vehicles, or not.

According to the press release filed by MADA:

“From the beginning, the [Minnesota Pollution Control Agency] MPCA has shown little understanding of how our industry operates and dismissed our concerns and good faith efforts to discuss other options,” said MADA President Scott Lambert.

“Instead, the MPCA is hellbent on adopting California’s mandates, which will result in higher costs for consumers and fewer choices of product that consumers want to purchase. It threatens the ability of many dealers to stay in business. We were left with no choice but to bring our grievances to court,” continued Lambert.

“We will continue to ask the Walz Administration to seek compromise instead of regulation and discussion instead of confrontation on this issue.”

Walz’s proposed car mandates are deeply unpopular with Minnesotans. American Experiment’s polling has found that 79 percent of Minnesotans would be unwilling to pay more for their next car to subsidize someone else’s electric car, including 64 percent of Democrats and 81 percent of independents.

Many people like the idea of electric cars in the abstract, but when the additional costs of mandating EVs becomes clear, Minnesotans decide that they are unwilling to pay the increased price.

More than 7,000 people have signed American Experiment’s petition opposing the Governor’s regulations, and you can add your name by clicking here! We want more than 10,000 people to sign the petition, so please share the link with your friends and family.