DPresident of the United States Joe Biden Hope to promote the electrification of American fleets through laws, formulate stricter emission regulations and huge subsidies. From 2030, every two new cars should achieve zero emissions. Corresponding orders are available. “When I say electric cars are the future, I’m not kidding,” Biden announced on Twitter on Thursday morning. The 50% allowance includes hybrid and fuel cell powered vehicles.
That White house It also clarified Biden’s strategic goals: For him, this is not only to help deal with the climate crisis, but also to compete with China in the automotive industry. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
The presidential decree is not binding, but is based on voluntary agreements with the industry. This has sparked criticism from environmentalists: “The voluntary commitment of the auto industry means that the New Year’s resolution will ultimately reduce the way legally binding contracts work,” points out Dan Becker of the Center for Biodiversity. This suspicion is no coincidence: the auto industry has reached a binding agreement on emissions standards with the Obama administration.As Donald Trump During the presidency, some producers broke the compromise and implemented easing policies.
Make the old rules take effect again
Despite this, the government still relies on cooperation with manufacturers: the three major U.S. producers General Motors, Ford and Stellattis are committed to the goal together with the Chrysler brand, but their positions are still vague. You are talking about a 40% to 50% sales rate. They obviously want Washington to subsidize production, research and development and ensure the construction of charging infrastructure. If the 50% target also coincides with the production announcement issued by the car company, then it is still very ambitious: electric vehicles currently account for 2% of the market share of new registrations in the United States.
On both sides of the sales quota are new and stricter passenger vehicle emissions regulations, but they also apply to popular pickup trucks and recreational vehicles, which have an increasing market share in the United States. Under Trump’s leadership and the insistence of certain industries, the Obama era’s emission standards have been significantly relaxed. Biden hopes to re-enforce the old rules and tighten them again from 2026.
Emission rules have fragmented the industry; however, after leading US manufacturers, including German producers, have pledged to rely on electric drives through extensive investment plans, it is not clear what role they will play in the future. The industry lobbying organization, the Automotive Innovation Alliance, has pledged to invest 330 billion U.S. dollars. General Motors recently announced its goal of ending sales of internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035.
The automotive industry has every reason to hope that the government and Congress can make changes Electric car There are high subsidies. Infrastructure plans that both senators have agreed and are about to vote, Set aside 7.5 billion U.S. dollars for the construction of charging terminals nationwide. The White House hopes to pass an additional legislative program that can relax the purchase incentives of up to $100 billion, which can pass Congress with a simple majority without Republican support.
Both US and foreign manufacturers have made it clear in their statements that purchase incentives are the key to equipping the US fleet with electric drive plans. The market success of Tesla, the largest electric car manufacturer, has also been greatly driven by purchase incentives. Biden also specifically hopes to help American manufacturers by converting federal authorities’ fleets to electric vehicles.
