According to two sources familiar with Trump’s transition team, the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump intends to attack federal regulations supported by President Joe Biden that are designed to increase the fuel efficiency of cars and encourage a move toward electric vehicles.
Appearing to fulfill a campaign pledge made by Trump to “end the EV mandate,” the action would replicate a similar action taken under the first Trump administration to repeal vehicle-efficiency regulations from the Obama administration.
According to the sources, the next administration intends to loosen regulations on tailpipe emissions and fuel economy criteria that were agreed upon earlier this year by the Environmental Protection Agency and the US National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. Trump is anticipated to explicitly order those agencies to reevaluate the Biden regulations, according to one of the sources.
Bloomberg was the first to report on the plan to repeal Biden’s vehicle-efficiency regulations.
Trump’s transition team is preparing to eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric car purchases, according to an exclusive revelation from Reuters last week. This would undoubtedly delay the US’s already stagnant EV transition.
Similar Obama-era restrictions took over three years to repeal during the first Trump administration. NHTSA and the EPA formally started updating the standards in 2018 after Trump demanded a review of them in early 2017. Less restrictive regulations were not finalized by any agency until March 2020.
According to one of the insiders, the action is intended to placate manufacturers who have expressed dissatisfaction at the burdensome nature of the Biden standards.