Trump Pledges Action To End EV Mandate In Inauguration Speech

[Brian Michael West]

Did anyone else catch that during his inauguration speech?

The orders include eliminating the so-called "electric vehicle mandate," Trump's phrase for a Environmental Protection Agency rule that requires auto manufacturers cut greenhouse gas emissions by half in new light- and medium-duty vehicles beginning in 2027.

The EPA has estimated the rule would force auto manufacturers to build electric vehicles for about 30% to 56% of their new light-duty vehicles by 2032 and 20% to 32% of new medium duty vehicles.

What will this mean for the auto industry? Any insights? Drop a comment below!

 

[flosho]

All positive!

 

[Alex Snyder]

He said it is all about common sense.

The EV battery technology got pushed hard and fast. Maybe some wishful thinking and fancy PR to make people think it is a cleaner power source. It is a superior driving experience. I hope more performance hybrids come to market instead.

 

[AlexCaradonna]

How does this change the EV used car market? I don't have a great pulse on how EV credits work..

 

[Alex Snyder]

How does this change the EV used car market? I don't have a great pulse on how EV credits work..

It certainly doesn't strengthen it! However, the losses traditional OEMs are taking cannot be sustained and they're moving away from EVs anyway. Along with Trump's "drill, baby, drill" opening up resources, we will see lower fuel costs. When? Yeah, that's not answerable at this time. Cheap gas will hurt EV sales. Let's recap:

1. Removal of EV manufacturing mandate (California probably won't change their mandates right away) by Executive Order
2. Manufacturers losing money due to incentives on EVs - the bulk of current EV sales are due to them being cheaper than ICE vehicles
3. Cheap gas on the horizon will popularize larger ICE vehicles

I don't see a short-term future for EVs as we knew under the past administration. On January 3rd, 2023 (2 years ago) a thread was started about how long EVs will last at the production level they were ramping to then.

Details around the EV credits have not come across my news cycle yet. I'd bet the only thing that is going away are the manufacturing mandates.

 

[flosho]

Hybrids were always the ticket, even plug-in. Getting 50+ MPG but still having an aggressive exhaust note when needed.

If manufacturers can get to around 100 miles of electric-only range while still having the ICE driving experience it will be the best of both worlds. You can daily drive that thing to and from work without using the ICE. And still drive a 12 hour road trip without planning charging points to stop at every 200 miles.

 

[AlexCaradonna]

Hybrids were always the ticket, even plug-in. Getting 50+ MPG but still having an aggressive exhaust note when needed.

If manufacturers can get to around 100 miles of electric-only range while still having the ICE driving experience it will be the best of both worlds. You can daily drive that thing to and from work without using the ICE. And still drive a 12 hour road trip without planning charging points to stop at every 200 miles.

I agree there. Always baffled me when we would take my wife's RAV4 hybrid on road trips and it would get almost 600 miles per fill.

 

[jscole86]

It's great news! OEM's should focus on building what customers demand. It should be as simple as that.

I know of one particular OEM that has said they wouldn't produce hybrids because it doesn't help them hit their EPA goals by enough. The irony there is that hybrids are in quite high demand from a consumer and industry perspective. Let consumer demand do the talking.

 

[Carsten]

Trump's "drill, baby, drill"

If not mistaken, this could potential be generational wealth changing. EVs are like a simple part of this.
This could be a challenge to OPEC and Saudi lifestyle.

A uni prof in the 90's said to the class I was in, that we had more oil than all of opec. IF this is true, and we under sell OPEC, and shared that wealth with Citizens, this could be crazy. Or even if, they remove all taxes (hold up their promise!) we would still benefit.

Austin which is very liberal can't support EVs how can other cities?

 

[Jon Singo]

How does this change the EV used car market? I don't have a great pulse on how EV credits work..

It's going to be a good year to buy a used EV! The incentives were single-handedly propping up wholesale values of EVs/ Once dealers learned they could essentially use the tax credit as a down payment, it was used as an easy way to get credit-challenged consumers into a vehicle. I expect wholesale to finally reflect their true 'value' and with an expected higher amount of EV lease turn-ins the market will also have more supply, in turn driving down prices further.

This is going to address the #1 issue with EVs, affordability, not demand. There is, has been, and will continue to be demand for dedicated EVs. Of course they aren't going to work for everyone but in my corner of suburbia I'd venture to guess at least half of all families own an EV (mostly Teslas). But for the majority of consumers they are simply too expensive. Even entry level domestic models like the Bolt had insane MSRPs vs ICE counterparts. Early adopters with the financial means already took the leap. My hope is we start to see entry level EVs under $20k in the used market. Toyota has already slashed the MSRP of it's BZ4X $8k for 2025. They will get cheaper which is good for everyone.