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Trump says he ended ‘electric vehicle mandate’. What does that mean?

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Trump says he ended 'electric vehicle mandate'. What does that mean?

From the campaign On this path, President Donald Trump was consistent: “he would end the electric vehicle mandate.” So the phrase is not surprising appeared in an executive order he signed Monday, just hours after taking office.

Here’s the kicker: The United States has never had a mandate for electric vehicles, nor any kind of law or regulation. requiring American buyers will go electric. Instead, the previous administration attempted to create a series of incentives and punishments designed to make electric vehicles more attractive to both the manufacturers who make them and the people who buy them. An executive order issued yesterday attempts to undo all that.

But it’s complicated. Experts say the effects of the order are unclear and will likely take some time to resolve. The electric vehicle parts of the order seem more about messaging than immediate practical effects. “A lot of this indicates the administration’s intent,” says Timothy Johnson, a professor of energy and the environment at the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment. “It’s not clear what the administration will be able to do immediately.”

In the meantime, automakers will continue to make and sell electric vehicles, and consumers will still be able to buy them. Some stricter emissions standards will go into effect at the end of 2026, and it typically takes manufacturers about five years to plan and build a car, meaning cars that meet those upcoming emissions regulations must be built and sell.

U.S. and global automakers have already backtracked on some of their most ambitious EV-related promises, but EVs are yet to come. The long-term future of the American auto industry is far from clear. Other governments are still pursuing EV-friendly policies, and critics warn they will increasingly look to China’s auto industry to navigate the transition.

One thing that is clear for the future of electric vehicles in the United States: there will be lawsuits.

Incoming reports

Monday’s executive order requires U.S. agencies to review their rules related to electric vehicles and determine whether they are “unduly burdensome” and interfere with consumer choice. Those agencies are supposed to write those findings into reports, which must be submitted within 30 days.

From there, the bureaucracy begins to work, says Kathy Harris, who directs the clean vehicles program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “If an agency wants to repeal a regulation, it has to go through the public process,” he says. That means publishing new proposed rules, receiving public comments, going back and forth with the industry, and then publishing those comments. There is a lot of paperwork between the Trump administration and the eventual cancellation of any EV-related programs.

The clearest way for the White House to relax rules requiring automakers to make more electric vehicles will be to focus on vehicle fuel efficiency and tailpipe standards. These require manufacturers to achieve certain levels of gas efficiency in all cars they make in the coming years and limit emissions of pollutants. One of the easiest ways automakers can achieve those goals is to sell more electric vehicles, which use no gasoline or emit pollutants at all. The last time Trump was in office, it took his administration more than three years to replace Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. This time, agencies could be more efficient and manage to change rules more quickly, Harris says. Still, the process could take months and months.

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