EVs don't slip through. Sure, they get a pass because they're more efficient. Just as compact cars, hybrids, etc. get a pass because they're more efficient. You continue to add distractions to your argument, so maybe clarifying it would help. I understand that you prefer a carbon tax and credit and nothing else. Great. Now, in lieu of that, you prefer what? A set of efficiency standards for ICE, a different set for EVs, another set for hybrids? None at all? Some kind of efficiency standards for old vehicles?
Your answer shouldn't include a reference to carbon tax and credit. That point is abundantly clear.
My answer, for what it's worth, is that in lieu of another mechanism, there should be a single set of standards for passenger vehicles (ICE, EV, and hybrid). Realizing that we cannot reasonably do much about existing vehicles on the road from a regulatory standpoint, we have to understand that we can impact newly manufactured vehicles, which will be on the roadway for far longer than those existing ones. Having a single efficiency standard will create a lot of pressure on the segment that has the most emissions. And as it complies, the standards can get tighter and tighter. Perhaps someday before long those standards will be tight enough that many EVs will be under the pinch as well.
If we truly care about total emissions, dual standards will not achieve the fastest reduction. A single standard will discontinue purchases of the heaviest polluters, which will make a far bigger difference than shaving a tiny bit off of vehicles that, by and large, are already tremendously efficient.
