President Joe Biden is said to be planning to slow down the implementation of his electric vehicle (EV) mandates for Americans just a few months prior to the 2024 presidential election. The Biden administration had previously introduced regulations in 2023, which stipulated that almost seven out of ten new cars sold in the United States must be EVs instead of traditional gas-powered vehicles by 2032. These regulations would effectively require American consumers to opt for EVs.
Joe Biden is now scrambling to reverse his position, as the NYT reports:
“In a concession to automakers and labor unions, the Biden administration intends to relax elements of one of its most ambitious strategies to combat climate change, limits on tailpipe emissions that are designed to get Americans to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, according to three people familiar with the plan.
“Instead of essentially requiring automakers to rapidly ramp up sales of electric vehicles over the next few years, the administration would give car manufacturers more time, with a sharp increase in sales not required until after 2030, these people said. They asked to remain anonymous because the regulation has not been finalized. The administration plans to publish the final rule by early spring.”
The deceleration of Biden’s EV mandates would occur soon after United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain backed the president for a second term, acknowledging that “working-class individuals are suffering” under Biden and that the majority of American auto workers will support former President Donald Trump instead.
“Look, let me be clear about this. A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden. Yes, some will. But that’s the reality of this,” Fain said in January. “The majority of our members are going to vote with their paychecks…”
Trump has cautioned that Biden’s EV mandates could eliminate millions of American auto jobs and jobs in supporting industries due to the reduced labor required for these cars.
On the other hand, Biden has pledged to oppose Trump’s tariff proposal, which would impose a ten percent tariff on all imports, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk has warned that China would “destroy” the American auto industry with inexpensive EVs if tariffs are not in place. A recent poll conducted in January reveals that the majority of swing state voters are against Biden’s EV mandates for the auto industry and consumers.
For instance, 61 percent of Arizona voters, 87 percent of Michigan voters, 57 percent of Pennsylvania voters, 66 percent of Ohio voters, 61 percent of Nevada voters, and 64 percent of Wisconsin voters have expressed their disapproval of Biden’s EV mandates. In general, 60 percent of voters nationwide are against these mandates.
