Enlarge image
Car Guy
: US President
Joe Biden
, actually known as a passionate train driver, on a test drive of the electric version of Ford's F-150 pickup in May
Photo: Evan Vucci / AP
US President
Joe Biden
(78) is setting new environmental standards for the automotive industry. To this end, he wanted to issue a corresponding ordinance on Thursday, as announced by the President's Office in Washington. In addition, an event with car manufacturers was planned in the White House. Large industrial groups from home and abroad have already signaled support for Biden's plans, but at the same time underlined the need for government investments worth billions. The president wants to achieve that by 2030 at least half of all cars sold will be emission-free. It also lays down new rules designed to reduce exhaust emissions.
Many representatives of Biden's Democratic Party had called on the president to take further measures. They wanted a mandatory requirement for electric car sales or an end date for new gasoline sales. In California and other countries this is only allowed until 2035. But Biden did not want to go that far - even under pressure from the powerful UAW auto union, which is resisting job and wage cuts in the course of the planned industry restructuring. The president's 50 percent target is not legally binding. It also applies to battery-powered electric cars as well as cars with fuel cell and hybrid drives.
The same vehicle groups include a commitment from the industry giants General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (Chrysler, Opel, Fiat, Peugeot). They are aiming for such cars to also make up 40 to 50 percent of sales in the US market by 2030. General Motors is the first major auto company to announce a complete exit from the internal combustion engine business by 2035. Volkswagen, BMW, Toyota, Volvo and Hyundai also pledged support to help the electric car achieve a breakthrough. Environmentalists, on the other hand, voiced criticism and accused the government of relying on voluntary commitments from an unreliable industry. "In contrast, New Year's resolutions for losing weight work like legally binding contracts," commented Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Transport Campaign.
Tesla boss
Elon Musk
(50) tweeted on Thursday morning: "It's strange that Tesla wasn't invited."
The pure electric car manufacturer dominates the battery vehicle market in the USA.
However, according to data from the International Energy Agency, only 2 percent of new cars sold in 2020 were electrically powered.
For comparison: In China it was 6, in Germany 13, in Norway 75 percent.
Gasoline consumption should drop a little faster
Biden's regulation also provides for new standards for reducing exhaust emissions. They mean a tightening compared to the loosening of the requirements under Biden's predecessor Donald Trump. At the same time, however, they are likely to be less strict than under Trump's predecessor and Biden's party colleague Barack Obama. In 2012, it stipulated that the fuel consumption of cars would be reduced by 5 percent annually by 2026. Biden, on the other hand, is calling for an efficiency improvement of just 3.7 percent in each case - based on the model of an agreement between the state of California and several automakers - in the same period, as Reuters learned from people familiar with the matter. Trump had lowered the savings target to 1.5 percent annually.
The current requirement means that the average consumption must be reduced to 5.9 liters of petrol per 100 kilometers by 2026. According to the Obama guidelines, the automakers should have reduced their fleet consumption to 4.3 liters by 2025. Immediately after taking office at the beginning of the year, Biden had instructed the EPA and NHTSA to revise the rules by July. However, this deadline passed without result.
The new goals are "ambitious, aggressive, but also feasible," said Transport Minister
Pete Buttigieg
(39) in an interview with the television station CNBC.
The big US car companies warn, however, that the ambitious electric car targets can only be achieved with a massive public sector investment offensive.
Billions of billions of dollars are needed, for example for buying incentives, setting up a charging network and research.
According to Biden, the government will have to raise $ 174 billion to promote electric vehicles, including $ 100 billion for consumer incentives.
ak / Reuters