Trump says he’s done with the “EV mandate”. What Does This Mean?

From the campaign iz, president Donald Trump was consistent: He was “finishing electric car mandate.” So this statement is not surprising appeared in an order he signed Monday, hours after being sworn in.

Here, the US has never had an EV mandate or any laws or regulations demanding American buyers will go electric. Instead, the previous administration tried to create a series of carrots and sticks designed to make electric vehicles more attractive to both the manufacturers who make them and the people who buy them. Yesterday’s order seeks to undo all of that.

But it’s complicated. Experts say the effects of the order are unclear and will likely take some time to reverse. The electric car parts of the order seem more about messaging than immediate practical effects. “A lot of this speaks to the administration’s intent,” says Timothy Johnson, a professor of energy and the environment at the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment. “It’s unclear what the administration can do immediately.”

In the meantime, automakers will continue to build and sell electric cars, and consumers will be able to buy them. Some of the tougher emissions standards come into effect at the end of 2026, and manufacturers typically have five years to plan and build a car, meaning cars that meet the upcoming emissions rules must be built and sold.

US and global automakers have already scaled back some of their more ambitious EV promises, but the electrics are still coming. The long-term future of the US auto industry is unclear. Other governments are still pursuing EV-friendly policies, and critics warn they will look to them. increasingly towards China’s auto industry to pass through.

One thing is clear for the future of EVs in the US: There will be lawsuits.

Incoming Reports

Monday’s executive order requires U.S. agencies to review their regulations on EVs and determine whether they are “unduly burdensome” and interfere with consumer choice. Those institutions must write those findings in reports to be submitted within 30 days.

That’s where the bureaucracy starts to grind, says Kathy Harris, who manages the clean vehicles program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “If an agency wants to deregulate, it has to go through a public process,” he says. That means publishing proposed new rules, taking public comments, going back and forth with industry, and then publishing those comments. Between the Trump administration and the recent elimination of EV-related programs, there is a lot of paperwork involved.

The White House’s most obvious way to loosen regulations requiring automakers to produce more EVs would be to target vehicle fuel efficiency and tailpipe standards. These require manufacturers to achieve certain levels of gas efficiency and limit emissions in all vehicles they produce in the coming years. One easy way for automakers to meet these goals is to sell more electric vehicles that don’t use gas or emit general tailpipe pollutants. When Trump was last in office, it took more than three years for his administration to reverse Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. Harris says that this time, agencies can be more efficient and get around to changing the rules more quickly. However, the process can take months and months.