Biden: EV Should Be Half Of Auto Sales By 2030

Electric vehicles should be half of all new auto sales by 2030, President Joe Biden said, according to senior administration officials, a goal supported by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, who pledged EV sales of between 40 and 50 percent by 2030 at a White House event Thursday (Aug. 5).

In May, IHS Markit said U.S. all-electric sales would be 25 to 30 percent of new vehicles in 2030 and 45 to 50 percent by 2035.

Biden’s executive order isn’t mandatory but it encourages U.S. automakers and government officials to back legislation and the adoption of EVs, including a target of zero-emission vehicles that use fuel cells and batteries along with plug-in hybrid vehicles with internal combustion engines.

The Biden administration also announced proposed federal fuel economy and emission standards through the 2026 model-year. The standards will go through a public comment and final approval period before being adopted.

Ford, Honda Motor and Volkswagen previously agreed to adopt the fuel economy and emission standards. Volvo plans to go all-electric by 2030 and Stellantis and Ford plan to reach 40 percent of EVs by then. GM has what it calls an “aspiration” to offer only all-electric and fuel-cell vehicles by 2035.

Sales of EVs fell by 11 percent across the U.S. to 295,000 units in 2020, according to IHS Markit. The U.S. is the third-largest EV market in the world.

Senior Biden administration officials say the adoption of EVs and executive order will support the president’s Build Back Better Agenda.

Related: GM’s Electric Vehicle Makeover Reverberates Far Beyond Detroit

In February, General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced her company’s plan to produce 100 percent electric vehicles by 2035. By embracing the dual electric and autonomous vehicle strategies, GM has implicitly endorsed the changing dynamics that have made Tesla the behemoth it is, with a $750 billion market value that’s about 10 times that of GM.

The major skepticism about the shift to EVs is the inability of manufacturers to meet Americans’ demand for large SUVs and pickup trucks. Many automakers are working on new trucks, such as the Hummer EV, which GM has called “the world’s first all-electric super truck.”