On the very first day of Donald Trump's second presidential term, Trump signed an executive order titled 'Unleashing American Energy' with the sole focus of hindering the adoption of electric vehicles across the United States. Some of the key policy changes outlined in the executive order included the elimination of the $7,500 federal tax credit that acted as a federal incentive for consumers purchasing a more climate friendly vehicle. The order took aim at the supposed 'electric vehicle mandate' and looked to remove any other subsidies and policies that Trump framed as unfairly favoring EVs over traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Falling Behind the Rest of the World
The United States saw roughly 11% of new cars purchased on 2025 be clean electric vehicles stagnating from previous major growth under the Biden administration. Along side the new policy changes under the current administration this stagnation is expected to linger while other leading nations race ahead. Mature markets in Europe such as Norway almost fully electric with ~95% of new car sales being fully electric. Looking to China nearly 60% of new cars in 2025 were electric. The rapid pace of auto manufactures abroad and the EV adoption in these mature markets has left the big three United States manufactures simply in the dust. So much so that the widely popular EVs coming out of China have a 100% tariff applied on them to further dissuade American customers in hopes of supporting the legacy American automotive industry.
I really liked your designation of our automobile industry as "legacy". You're entirely right. I wonder how much that contributes to our unwillingness to shed this condemning industry in favor of a cleaner one.
ReplyDeleteThis makes it clear how rolling back EV support slows progress. Cutting incentives keeps the U.S. behind while other countries move ahead, and since transportation drives so many emissions, delaying EV adoption just means more pollution and a tougher path to climate goals.
ReplyDeleteI like that you added some of the data to really show how much our progress has been slowed. I think it will be interesting to see how these companies respond, since during Trump's first term, many large automotive companies actually continued projects to promote and continue advancing EV, knowing that after the term those initiatives would most likely be re-implemented.
ReplyDeleteHas anything really changed since the early 1900s? We were taught in high school that the big monopolies of the Gilded Age were 'taken care of' like some finished movie arc, but this shows they never really left. Instead, they've just achieved complete control over a compromised government. They are obviously hanging on by a thread to preserve their dying empire of oil.
ReplyDeleteI like that you talked about how avoiding EV support is only delaying the inevitable.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blog post! I liked your discussion about other countries and their EV advancements. You framed it in a way that we moving backwards and other countries are moving forward.
ReplyDeleteYour blog put EV numbers and transportation GHG emissions into a neat style that can easily be read and digested to understand how frustrating and halting what this administration is doing to technological and economic growth in the EV market.
ReplyDeleteIn my post I outlined many of the deregulatory acts made by the EPA under this administration. Their main points for the deregulation were "unleashing American energy" and the automotive industry. This in theory would be a perfect time to develop infrastructure in our country to support the expansion of electric vehicles, while also allowing American automakers to get a head start on the US market as demand grows, but unfortunately this is not whats happening.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked how you show that different policy approaches lead to very different levels of electric vehicle growth. Overall, your post is well organized and effectively shows how transportation policy can directly influence climate change.
ReplyDeleteThe removal of the EV tax credit is a clear example of what you described as the "Architecture of Enforced Dependency," effectively pricing the public out of sustainable options to maintain the "parasitic cycle" of oil consumption. By framing environmental progress as a "handicap," the administration ensures that the "colonial corporate store" remains the only affordable way for the average person to navigate their world.
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