Biden wants half of all new cars to be electric by 2030

Posted Oct. 11, 2021

By Nellie Shevtsov

Staff Reporter

President Biden signed an executive order on August 5 that focuses on making 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States electric by 2030, a plan to reduce pollution and global warming.

The President is bringing back tailpipe emissions regulations from the Obama era and set a goal that 50% of all vehicles sold in the United States be electric by 2030. President Biden is first restoring and strengthening auto mileage standards to the levels that existed under President Barack Obama. The new rules apply to vehicles in the model year 2023, which would cut about one-third of the carbon dioxide produced annually by the United States and prevent the burning of 200 billion gallons of gasoline over the lifetime of the cars.

“There’s a vision of the future that is now beginning to happen, a future of the automobile industry that is electric—battery-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell electric,” said Biden, who announced the plan from the South Lawn of the White House before an array of parked electric vehicles, including the Ford F150 Lightning, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, and a Jeep Wrangler. “The question is whether we’ll lead or fall behind in the future.”

As for the new electric car vehicle sales in 2030, the automakers guaranteed that 40% to 50 % of their new car sales would be electric vehicles by 2030 on the condition that Congress passes a spending bill that includes billions of dollars for a national network of electric vehicle charging stations. The bill would also include tax credits to make it cheaper for companies to build cars and consumers to buy them.

But a rapid transition to electric vehicles faces multiple challenges. Experts say it will not be possible to make electric vehicles mainstream without electric car charging stations as common as gas stations.

The tailpipe emissions regulations enacted by the Obama Administration in 2012 required that passenger vehicles sold by automakers achieve an average of roughly 51 miles per gallon by 2025. President Trump loosened the standard in 2020 to about 44 miles per gallon by 2026. The new Biden standard would be 52 miles per gallon by 2026.

The White House estimates the regulations would cut two billion tons of carbon dioxide, about one-third of the total annual carbon dioxide pollution produced by the United States, and prevent the burning of about 200 billion gallons of gasoline.

As Biden aims for more electric cars and less gas usage, Global warming and car pollution can improve as he plans. However, the success of his automobile plan will depend on how Americans trust the new change.