From the campaign Despite this, President Donald Trump has been consistent: He will “end the electric vehicle mandate.” So this phrase is not surprising I figured out In an executive order he signed Monday, just hours after he was sworn in.
Here’s the problem: The United States has never had a mandate for electric vehicles, or any kind of law or regulation require American buyers are switching to electric. Instead, the previous administration tried to create a series of carrots and sticks designed to make electric cars more attractive to both the manufacturers who make them and the people who buy them. An executive order issued yesterday attempts to undo all of that.
But it’s complicated. Experts say the implications of the matter are not clear and will likely take some time to resolve. The electric vehicle parts in demand appear to be more about messaging than direct practical effects. “A lot of it signals the administration’s intent,” says Timothy Johnson, professor of energy and environment at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. “It is unclear what the administration will be able to do immediately.”
In the meantime, automakers will continue to make and sell electric cars, and consumers will still be able to buy them. Some of the stricter emissions standards will begin in late 2026, and it typically takes manufacturers about five years to plan and build a car, meaning cars that follow upcoming emissions regulations must be made and sold.
US and global automakers have already backed away from some of their most ambitious EV promises, but EVs are still coming. The long-term future of the US auto industry is far from clear. Other governments are still pursuing EV-friendly policies, and critics warn they will increasingly look to China’s auto industry to get through the transition.
One thing is clear about the future of electric vehicles in the United States: there will be lawsuits.
Reports received
Monday’s executive order requires US agencies to take a look at its rules surrounding electric vehicles and determine whether they are “unnecessarily burdensome” and interfere with consumer choice. These agencies are supposed to record these findings in reports, which are due to be submitted within 30 days.
From there, the bureaucracy starts grinding, says Cathy Harris, who runs the Clean Vehicles Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “If an agency wants to repeal a regulation, it has to go through the public process,” she says. This means publishing proposed new rules, taking public comments, going back and forth with industry, and then publishing those comments. There is a lot of paperwork between the Trump administration and the eventual cancellation of any electric vehicle programs.
The most obvious way for the White House to relax rules requiring automakers to make more electric vehicles is to target vehicle fuel efficiency and exhaust standards. This requires manufacturers to reach certain levels of gas efficiency in all cars they manufacture in the coming years and reduce pollutants emitted. One of the easiest ways automakers can achieve these goals is to sell more electric cars, which don’t use gas or emit tailpipe pollutants at all. The last time Trump took office, it took more than three years for his administration to replace Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. This time, agencies may be more efficient and succeed in changing rules more quickly, Harris says. However, the process may take months and months.