Biden sets target for 50% EVs by 2030

U.S. President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Thursday setting a target to make half of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles and propose new vehicle emissions rules to cut pollution through 2026, the White House said.

Biden’s goal, which is not legally binding, won the support of major U.S. and foreign automakers who warned it would require billions of dollars in government funding.

General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler-parent Stellantis NV confirmed in a joint statement that they aspire “to achieve sales of 40-50% of annual U.S. volumes of electric vehicles… by 2030.” Reuters reported the planned automaker announcement on Tuesday.

Biden’s 50% goal and the automakers’ 40-50% aspiration includes battery electric, fuel cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles that also have a gasoline-engine.

Biden has repeatedly resisted calls from many Democrats to set a binding requirement for EV adoption or to follow California and some countries in setting 2035 as a date to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered light duty vehicles in the face of opposition by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

UAW President Ray Curry noted the EV goal but said “the UAW focus is not on hard deadlines or percentages, but on preserving the wages and benefits that have been the heart and soul of the American middle class.”

Biden’s new executive order sets a new schedule for developing new emissions standards through at least 2030 for light duty vehicles and as early as 2027 for larger vehicles.

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