Biden Administration Gives Auto Manufacturers More Time to Ramp Up Electric Vehicle Production
The Biden Administration is reportedly giving legislative breathing room to auto manufacturers required to rapidly increase electric vehicle production within the next few years.
New Plan Allows Car Manufacturers until 2030 to Increase EV Sales
The Biden Administration is set to finalize a new plan in the early Spring, which will give car manufacturers until 2030 to ramp up sales of their electric vehicles (EVs). This comes as a shift in climate change action to accommodate automakers' need for more time to meet the White House's aims and unions' preference for a slower EV ramp-up.
The original goal was to have increased EV sales done before 2030 to rapidly reduce carbon emissions from gasoline cars, which currently account for the country's largest source of greenhouse gases.
By extending the timeline for automakers, the Biden Administration aims to cut down on tail-pipe emissions by pushing more Americans towards EVs.
Need for Time to Build EVs and Establish Charging Infrastructure
One of the reasons auto manufacturers need more time is to build EVs and cut their costs, but also to establish charging station infrastructure across the US. Currently, there are just over 160,000 charging stations, with only 88 percent of them being public use stations, according to the Department of Energy.
Expanding the charging station network is crucial to ensuring that EV owners have convenient access to charging their vehicles. This infrastructure development is a necessary step to support the growth of EV adoption.
By giving more time to manufacturers, the administration hopes to facilitate the expansion of EV charging infrastructure.
Slowing Down EV Transition to Protect Manufacturing Jobs
In addition to appeasing automakers, the policy change also aims to assuage labor unions who are concerned that the swift transition to EVs may lead to job losses in the manufacturing sector. Labor unions are seeking a slowdown in order to ensure their unionization efforts can keep pace with the growth of the EV industry, particularly as new plants are being built in union-unfriendly states.
Union support is considered crucial for President Biden's reelection campaign. He has previously shown his support for labor unions by appearing at an auto workers strike.
While President Biden's long-term goal is to eliminate carbon emissions from the US by 2050, this move indicates that he is willing to give more time to achieve this target and protect manufacturing jobs in the process.
