Biden reveals lackluster new EV policy, no gasoline phase-out plan

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced that by 2030, half of all new cars and light trucks are expected to be zero-emission vehicles – a mix of battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and gasoline-powered electric vehicles. hydrogen fuel cell. But the White House still sees a future for hydrocarbon combustion, as the executive order will also develop new long-term energy efficiency standards, and there is no mention of phasing out internal combustion engines for new vehicles at any time in the future.

In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are expected to announce new energy efficiency rules through to model year 2026. The United States had a relatively ambitious goal of achieving a savings target. fuel average of 54 mpg (4.3 l / 100 km) in 2025 under President Obama, but President Trump tackled that plan in 2020.

The EPA and NHTSA will likely adopt the framework recently put in place by the California Air Resources Board and BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen Group and Volvo. The plan would reduce emissions from new vehicles by 17% by 2026.

“Together, today’s announcements would put us on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new passenger vehicle sales by more than 60% in 2030 compared to vehicles sold last year. and facilitate the achievement of the President’s goal of 50 to 52% net greenhouse gases in the economy as a whole. emissions reductions below 2005 levels by 2030, “the White House said in a statement.

The White House’s plan is less ambitious than that of the European Union, which has already declared 55% of vehicles to be zero-emissions by 2030, rising to 100% of all new passenger vehicles by 2035. It is also less ambitious than China’s plans, although the loss of competitiveness to China’s benefit is frequently mentioned in the White House statement. This is certainly less ambitious than the UK strategy of phasing out new internal combustion engine vehicles in 2030. petrol or diesel cars and light trucks.)

The question of whether any of these requirements will even be implemented also remains. As already noted, four years of inaction and blocking by the previous administration – not to mention intensive lobbying against stricter efficiency standards by General Motors, Stellantis, and Toyota – have severely slowed down the United States’ decarbonization efforts. compared to Europe and China; there is little reason to believe that a change in control of Congress or the White House would lead to a different outcome in the next few years.