The United States Government has backtracked on its goal of achieving 67% of car sales by 2032.
The United States opted for electric cars, but the Biden administration has backed down on measures to combat climate change. The United States Government has not abandoned the idea of reducing emissions from automobiles, but the plans may be extended beyond 2030.
The country has changed strategy and will not require manufacturers to increase sales of electric vehicles in the coming years at any price. The change may be merely political, The New York Times has explained. Biden faces the discontent of manufacturers, dealers and drivers of combustion cars and this intermediate measure favors him in the face of re-election.
The electric sector is established, but the country is far from creating a solid agreement between manufacturers and unions as is the case in China, where the large producers of batteries and electric cars have joined together. This retreat further distances a possible agreement between brands and unions, and buyers may lose interest in cars with sustainable environmental labels.
The issue of electric cars could not be more politicized. Donald Trump spread hoaxes for months warning drivers that electric cars were defective. The former president threatened to eliminate these models from the market the first day he returned to the White House.
The measures were so strict that there was no way for manufacturers to comply with them.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency set limits on CO2 emissions derived from tailpipes. The only solution was to start producing a huge number of zero-emission vehicles in the short term, but the rules were so strict that many brands could not bear the cost of changing their entire production model.
67% of new car sales had to be electric by 2032. The figures are far from reality in a market that has only sold 7.6% in 2023, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. These measures would involve a radical restructuring of the US automobile market.
Manufacturers have assured that they need more time to increase their fleet of zero-emission vehicles; it is not realistic to make a decision like this in the short term. To this we must add the construction of a national network of charging points, create new manufacturing plants throughout the country and reduce the price of electric cars.
The goal of the United States Government continues to be to reduce CO2 emissions, but Biden's new policies propose a gradual increase in the production and sale of electric cars until 2030. Starting this year, the plans remain in place and the fleet will have to increase drastically, although the country may already have the necessary infrastructure.
The measure has also had criticism among other groups. “We will have more rapid climate warming if US transportation emissions do not decrease before 2030,” said James Glynn, a researcher at the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.