Joe Biden wants to green the US auto industry with a target of 50% zero-emission cars sold by 2030

The President of the United States  wishes to  “put America in a position to lead the future of the electric car”  and thus overtake China.

Joe Biden unveils, Thursday, August 5, his plan to green the American automotive industry , in the face of aggressive Chinese and European competitors. The American trade President cain  hears boost  sales of electric cars and beef up environmental regulations eased by his predecessor to “deal with the climate crisis.”

The American president wants that by 2030, half of the cars sold in the United States are emission-free, that is to say electric, plug-in hybrids or hydrogen, according to a document made public by the White House. He must sign a decree to this effect on Thursday. In 2020, according to  the International Energy Agency, electric vehicles represented only 2% of new car sales in the United States, against 10% in Europe.

A global race for the electric car

Joe Biden intends with this ambitious objective  “to put America in a position to lead the future of the electric car, to overtake China”  which is already investing, producing and selling at a rapid pace. The three big American manufacturers, namely Ford, GM and Stellantis (which has in its bosom the historic brand Chrysler) affirm in a joint statement their  “  common ambition to reach in 2030 at 40 to 50%”  of vehicles of this type sold every year in the United States. In another statement, manufacturers BMW, Honda, Volkswagen, and Volvo, often considered more advanced in electrical matters  “applaud”  the initiative of the Democratic president. Joe Biden always anxious to promise “well-paid, unionized jobs”  to each of his public interventions, also rallied the powerful workers union  United auto workers (UAW) .

If this figure of 50% does not go well beyond what many manufacturers are already considering, the march is nevertheless high for the United States. Because if the country is the cradle of Tesla, great world star of the electric car, American manufacturers as well as motorists have been slow to convert, compared to the Chinese or the Europeans.

A review of emissions regulations

Joe Biden also intends to tighten up fuel consumption regulations again. President Donald Trump had very clearly lowered the requirements of his predecessor Barack Obama in this area. The current emissions regulations, which date from March 2020, require manufacturers to improve the energy performance of their models by 1.5% per year, that is, the distance traveled with a unit of fuel, between the years 2021 and 2026. It was set at 5% by the Obama administration. The Biden administration did not immediately unveil a new quantified target.

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