Biden

What you need to know about electric vehicles as President Biden, automakers announce EV goals

By Betty C. Morrow 6 months ago

Gas will be out of gas if President Biden has his way.

The White House on Thursday announced a goal of making half of all new cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the U.S. zero-emission vehicles by 2030, including battery-powered electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell cars.

The goal drew support from the automotive industry’s largest players, including General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen and Stellantis, the company formerly known as Fiat Chrysler. Supporters of Biden’s electric vehicle plan manufacture and sell the world’s most popular gas-powered vehicles, from the Ford F-150 pickup to the Toyota RAV4 SUV and the Honda Accord sedan.

Biden promoted the transition from gas to electric vehicles as crucial to combating climate change, which is worsened by emissions from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

But getting from here to there will take years and involves numerous challenges.

► Charging access poses hurdle: More electric

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Biden aims to juice EV sales, but would his plan work?

By Betty C. Morrow 10 months ago

DETROIT — Dangling tax credits and rebates in his drive to fight climate change, President Joe Biden wants you to trade your gas-burning car, truck or SUV for a zero-emissions electric vehicle.

Some buyers would find his offer persuasive. Yet Biden’s goal is a daunting one: Even if Congress approves his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, along with its incentives, it would take many years to replace enough internal combustion vehicles with EVs to make a huge dent in tailpipe emissions.

Right now, there are about 279 million vehicles on the road in the United States. The proportion that are fully electric, according to IHS Markit, is 0.36%. Of the 14.5 million new vehicles that were sold last year, 2% were fully electric.

Even if every new vehicle sold were battery powered — something no one envisions — it would take about 15 years to swap out the entire fleet.

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