President Trump Restores Consumer Choice For Future Cars

Image via TheSonOfWalkley/X

In his inaugural address, President Trump made an announcement we anticipated about the federal EV mandate being revoked immediately. In fact, it was one of the day-one promises he made while on the campaign trail, drawing a mixed response from the auto industry.

Ram is dropping the larger battery option for its new all-electric truck.

“We will revoke the electric vehicle mandate,” he said resolutely to cheers in the Capitol Rotunda, “saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers.” As he finished this declaration, many in the crowd stood to applaud.

As we previously covered, the EPA unveiled new car emissions standards in April 2023 for the 2027 model year, effectively mandating a significant portion of new vehicles to be all-electric. As those standards tighten up to the 2032 model year, up to 67 percent of the market could be comprised of EVs.

That’s fine for us if consumers really want electric cars to that degree. But for the government to just decide and force automakers to produce what people don’t want isn’t only not American, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. Now it seems that entire plan will be annihilated today.

We think eliminating mandates will force automakers to be more competitive with their future EV models. In other words, they’ll have to punch up designs, improve technologies, and otherwise convince consumers to make such a switch instead of relying on the government to force a transition. That in turn should lead to better electric cars, which is a good thing for everyone.

Elon Musk has called for an end to EV tax credits, a controversial topic which Trump didn’t touch in his address. However, with a stroke of the pen today those might also disappear, eliminating an incentive for some consumers to buy electric cars.

This also comes at a time of great fear that Chinese automakers will ransack this market like they have in Australia, Europe, and elsewhere, putting American automakers in peril. Since Chinese automakers have leaned heavily into full electrification, with great financial support from the Chinese Communist Party, the elimination of such a mandate in the US could make this market all that much less attractive.

Image via TheSonOfWalkley/X

By Steven Symes

Steven Symes is an accomplished automotive journalist with a passion for all things related to cars. His extensive knowledge and love for the automotive world shine through in his writing, which covers a diverse range of topics.

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