Future of electric vehicles to be determined by elections
The current US President Joe Biden has championed the transition to EVs, directing significant funding towards building EV chargers and subsidising electric vehicle costs
With 2024 set to be an election year, the future of electric vehicles (EVs) is anticipated to be strongly influenced by significant elections, specifically the European Parliament elections in June and the US elections in November, due to potential shifts in political dynamics and policies.
The current US President Joe Biden has championed the transition to EVs, directing significant funding towards building EV chargers and subsidising electric vehicle costs.
But if a Republican were to win the presidency in 2024, these policies might face opposition or adjustments, as the party's stance on climate laws, tax incentives for EVs, and broader environmental policies could influence the regulatory landscape for electric vehicles in the US.
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In a New York Times interview, Ford Motor Company Executive Chair Bill Ford (great-grandson of the company's founder Henry Ford), likened the ongoing EV kerfuffle to the party-line divisions that surrounded COVID-19-related mask mandates and vaccinations.
According to Ford, while the blue states advocate for the swift adoption of EVs due to climate reasons, some red states argue that this parallels the vaccine situation, asserting that the government is imposing it on them, and they are resistant to accepting it.
For the record, the Environmental Protection Agency says that transportation is responsible for 29% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., with 81% of that generated by cars and trucks.
Meanwhile, parliamentary elections in several European nations have the power to influence the discourse. Beginning in 2035, the sale of any vehicles other than zero-emission cars and vans is already prohibited. As the phase-out date draws near, automakers are also under regulatory pressure to increase the quantity of EVs they sell.
However, even though the legislation covering massive auto-producing nations like Germany, France, and Italy is currently in place, the regulations may be reviewed in the upcoming political term in Brussels by a new political group.
Certainly, as much as elections could influence electric vehicles (EVs), the dynamics of EVs in politics could also have an impact on the elections.
