This Labor Day weekend, the AAA expects tens of millions of drivers on the road—10% more than last year—most of them in safe, affordable cars and pickup trucks.
Consumers have choice, based on their own preferences and needs, not the dictates of government. Now you can travel in your choice of electric vehicle, hybrid, or gasoline-powered car.
But in 10 years you will likely not have that choice, once the stealth regulations of the Biden-Harris administration force you into buying electric vehicles.
That’s because President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have imposed regulations through the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation that mandate that 70% of all new passenger cars sold in America be battery-powered electric or plug-in hybrid by 2032, up from about 8% in 2023. By 2027, 32% of new vehicles have to be electric or plug-in hybrid; by 2029, the share is 47%.
The stated objective of the mandate is to reduce global temperatures due to climate change. But even if all fossil fuels were eliminated from the United States immediately, this would make a difference of only two-tenths of one degree Celsius by 2100, according to government models.
If automakers don’t sell the required share of electric vehicles under the mandate, the government levies fines and manufacturers must purchase credits from companies selling more electric vehicles. Currently, automakers buy Zero Emission Vehicle credits from Tesla, which sells two-thirds of all EVs in the United States.
The financial penalties faced by auto companies for breaking the law already force them to reduce production and raise prices of popular cars, such as pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles, and increase their production of electric vehicles.
As the required share of EV sales rises, more desirable brands will be priced higher—or disappear. Since Americans prefer pickup trucks to EVs, auto companies price EVs artificially lower than cost and raise prices of gasoline-powered cars to compensate. Raising car prices to unaffordable levels removes choice.
Even with favored pricing, and with the $7,500 tax credit to purchase an electric vehicle, dealers are not selling enough EVs to meet the mandate. Over 4,000 car dealers wrote to Biden in November 2023, stating: “The reality, however, is that electric vehicle demand today is not keeping up with the large influx of [battery electric vehicles] arriving at our dealerships prompted by the current regulations. BEVs are stacking up on our lots.”
In January 2024, over 5,000 car dealers wrote again to Biden, saying: “Electric vehicle sales are not remotely on trend to meet those [EPA] requirements. Indeed, the day supply of electric vehicles on dealer lots today is nearly twice the supply of conventional vehicles … We now ask that you hit the brakes.”
For those who can afford electric vehicles, who can recharge them at home or at the office, and who don’t have to travel too far during the day, EVs are ideal. They are quiet and don’t require trips to the gas station.
But for others, the Biden-Harris EV mandate doesn’t work, and these drivers should be allowed their choice of gasoline-powered cars.
Electric vehicles cost tens of thousands more than their gasoline-powered equivalents. Some people can’t recharge at home or on the job, such as many who work in businesses that require travel, or who work in farming. Extreme hot and cold temperatures reduce battery life. And those who travel with children know that several delays along the road to recharge can ruin a family vacation.
The mandate for electric vehicles increases America’s dependence on China, which produces 80% of EV batteries, as my recent Heritage Foundation report details.
The mandate also specifies that 25% of all heavy trucks sold must be electric by 2032. As with EVs, electric trucks cost more than diesel trucks, raising transportation costs. A diesel truck costs about $120,000; an electric truck costs in the range of $450,000 to $500,000.
America doesn’t even have the electrical grid capacity, the charging stations, or the technology to operate long-haul electric trucks—and won’t have them by 2032.
Harris has said that she doesn’t want to take away Americans’ choice of vehicles. If so, the Biden-Harris administration indeed needs to hit the brakes on the EV mandate.