“The future of the auto industry is electric,” President Joe Biden said in a voiceover to a video posted on Twitter Wednesday night. Automakers seem to agree with him.

On Thursday, the “Big Three” American carmakers — Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler (now part of the Dutch auto giant Stellantis) — announced a goal of having 40 to 50 percent of their new vehicle sales by 2030 be electric, in line with a new Biden executive order announced the same day. That would represent a giant step forward for the electrification of transport: Current EV sales in the United States have hovered around a paltry 2 to 3 percent of the total car market over the past several years

U.S. carmakers have already begun shifting toward electric vehicles. Ford recently released an all-electric Mustang EV, in addition to the much-anticipated electric F-150, and the company promised earlier this year to more than double its investments in electric and autonomous vehicles. General Motors has gone even further, planning to only sell electric vehicles by 2035.

The White House is also forging ahead on other ways to cut emissions from transport. The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation unveiled new fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks Thursday, beginning the process of reversing President Donald Trump’s rollback of those standards during his presidency. The proposed rules require a one-time increase in fuel economy by 10 percent in 2023, followed by a 5 percent improvement annually through 2026.

Read the full article here at Grist

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *