The electric car mandate is quite trending these days in the US presidential election campaign. President Joe Biden’s administration imposed the regulation in March 2024 which can be a major step in concerns on environmental health and climate change.
This rule says the auto industries of the United States have to sell a certain percentage of electric or hybrid cars and light trucks by the year 2032 to promote zero-emission vehicles for a better environment but recently Donald Trump has talked about stopping this mandate from day one if he becomes the president.
According to him, this electric car mandate can negatively affect the automobile industry as well as middle-class families as electric cars are costlier compared to old gas cars. Environmentalists are in favor of the electric car mandate US policy while there are also a good number of people who oppose it. But, what is Electric Car Mandate in actual…?
What is Electric Car Mandate? Electric Car Mandate easy explanation:
Basically, the electric car mandate is a policy where auto industries are ordered to sell certain numbers of electric and hybrid vehicles (zero carbon emission vehicles) within a specific time to reduce carbon emissions for a better environment.
Let’s try to understand the electric car mandate in an easy way.
Car manufacturers are still manufacturing gas cars. And obviously, there is a reason because the majority of people belong to the middle-class family and electric cars are costlier compared to gasoline cars. And, even if there are budget-friendly electric vehicles, they either lack the features and performance or look unattractive.
So the government announced a regulation that, car manufacturers must sell a fixed percentage of electric vehicles in a given time frame. And, this is what the electric car mandate US is all about.
It will forcefully encourage auto industries to bring improved features, budget, and design in EVs to attract more customers to fulfill the regulation’s expectations.
Let us tell you that this mandate is not a very new policy or regulation. Apart from the USA, other countries are already working on similar regulations with the automobile industry but with different names and terms.
Electric car mandate in other countries with different names and policies
Norway: Norway’s government aimed to sell all new light goods vehicles and passenger cars to be 100% zero emission by 2025. The good part about Norway is it started promoting electric vehicles in 1990 by encouraging people and auto industries to provide incentives, cheaper parking, toll, and ferry tickets, and much more just to promote zero-emission vehicles.
United Kingdom: The UK announced a Vehicle Emission Trading Scheme order in 2023 which is targeted to increase sales of zero-emission cars by up to 80% by 2030. The estimated electric car sales in 2024 is around 22%.
Canada: Same as the UK, Canada has its GHG regulation which was also implemented in 2023 to encourage the use of zero-emission vehicles to promote a healthy environment. As per this regulation, the Canadian administration is aiming for 100% sale of zero-emission vehicles by 2035.
United States: By 2032, as per the Biden Environmental Protection Agency’s mandate up to 60% of new cars and trucks sold in the country will be zero carbon emission. It’s their target to introduce more and more clean and environment-friendly vehicles.
Some South Asian countries including India, China, Japan, etc. are also working to bring more electric vehicles onto the road and they have also aimed a certain percentage to sell zero-emission vehicles in a specific timeframe but the difference is it’s not a mandate yet.
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The electric car mandate is aimed at bringing positive effects on climate change
EVs are zero-tailpipe emissions vehicles that work incredibly to reduce climate change. Encouraging these vehicles on a large scale not only helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also reduces noise pollution and clean air quality.
Less noise pollution means more mental peace. Plus, it’s also gonna save your hard-earned money every year as EVs give good mileage at a low price compared to gas-powered vehicles.
However, the electric car mandate can be a good initiative to protect our environment from carbon emissions and other negative elements. But, there are some cons that the administration needs to address before imposing anything forcefully.
Some expected cons of electric car mandate regulations
Costlier compared to gasoline cars: The EVs are slightly more expensive compared to gas-powered passenger cars. Plus, installing charging equipment also costs dollars which is an additional expense.
Range anxiety due to lack of EV Infrastructure: If the administration fails to provide sufficient EV charging stations, it probably gonna create range anxiety among the EV users because as you know how much time it takes to refuel the EV compared to a car gas station. So, the government needs to work on this issue before fully imposing this mandate.
Challenges for Auto Industries: The electric car mandate is going to be the biggest challenge for auto industries cause not only do they have huge pressure to meet the numbers but there is also a challenge for them to lower the cost of EVs without compromising the quality so they can attract buyers.
Personal choice: Some people prefer their old gas-powered car. They may be habitual of it, may be emotionally attached to their old car, feel comfort or anything else. Whatever it could be, chances are this mandate could stop government facilities or tax relaxation. I am not sure but it could be in the future. it’s just my point of view.
Now, the question is would the middle-class family be able to see a cheaper option in electric cars in the future due to this mandate…?
Well, the automobile industries are introducing better features day by day with the improved technology. Not only these EV manufacturing companies are working to improve the range, battery capacity, cooling system, etc but also using technology to reduce their manufacturing cost.
So, we can expect that people will be able to see budget-friendly electric cars for middle-class families compared to the current pricing range of electric cars in the upcoming time.
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Bottom line
No doubt EVs are a better option compared to gas-powered vehicles as they give awesome range and are environment-friendly too. Still, some US citizens think that Joe Biden’s electric car mandate regulation is a sort of dictatorship. What’s your opinion on this electric car mandate rule? Let us know in the comment section.