Just hours after his second inauguration, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that he claimed would end the Biden electric vehicle mandate. But there was no Biden EV mandate. President Joe Biden had set no enforceable EV targets. In 2021 Biden signed his own executive order targeting 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in the United States will be electric by 2030, which itself was not legally binding.
The new executive order revokes unspent government funds for electric-vehicle charging stations. This could be a violation of the 1974 Impoundment Control Act, a law that says the President must spend the money allocated by Congress.
Trump’s order also calls for ending a waiver allowing states to ban internal-combustion cars by 2035. Specifically targeting the repeal of a waiver granted to California in December, Trump said the EPA should terminate, "where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles."
The order also tells his administration to consider eliminating what he calls "unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase." Trump has made pasts comments about his plan to end the federal $7500 EV tax credit but it’s still in place.
Trump is clearly following through on his pledge to put a stop to America’s transition to EVs. But it appears that all he can actually do is slow down the segue.
Even the traditional internal combustion automakers are telling Trump not to pull the plug on EVs. Following Trump’s victory in the November 2024 elections, a coalition of automakers sent a letter to President Trump titled "Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles."
According to the letter, the auto industry can only be successful with "stability and predictability" as many have already invested billions of dollars into EV research and development.
Wall Street Journal automotive reporter Mike Colias, author of the new book InEVitable: Inside the Messy, Unstoppable Transition to Electric Vehicles says EVs are upending the auto industry, transforming economies, and even reshaping the roles vehicles play in our lives. But more importantly, thanks to China, South Korea and Japan, EVs are part of the global transportation economy, and it doesn’t make sense for the United States to leave what will continue to be the future of transportation.
But the burning question is – why isn’t Elon Musk, Trump’s apparent Oval Office shot caller, telling Trump how great EVs are?
While Musk has said his company Tesla doesn’t need the current $7500 per EV tax credit, he is probably less eager to support Trump’s goals to slash Biden-era EPA emissions regulations. Tesla continues to make billions selling EPA credits to GM and Ford to offset their gas-guzzling trucks.
Guest:
Mike Colias is a Wall Street Journal reporter and veteran of the US automotive beat, based in Detroit, where he has covered General Motors for twelve years and added Ford to his duties five years ago. His agenda-setting coverage includes scoops on multibillion-dollar EV factory investments, executive hirings and firings, and closely guarded decisions to add or cut vehicle lines. With access to all the key players in the automotive industry, he has tracked the transition to electric vehicles since the start through hundreds of sources across the auto sector, from mom-and-pop car dealers in the heartland to factory workers, union reps, investment bankers, and entrepreneurs. Colias has been a business journalist for more than twenty years.
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This interview was recorded on Tuesday, February 4, 2025.
