President Joe Biden on Thursday set a goal to make half of all new vehicles sold in the United States in 2030 electrified vehicles as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to take the lead in clean and efficient transportation technology.
Under an executive order signed by Biden, 50 percent of new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030 are expected to be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-fuel cell electric vehicles, a move supported by major U.S. and European automakers as well as Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corp.
The goal is not legally binding, but may add fresh momentum to the electric vehicle market, which in the United States has showed slow growth. EVs accounted for about 2 percent of the U.S. new-car market in recent years, the Pew Research Center said in a report in early June.
The Biden administration is calling for investment in EV infrastructure and manufacturing, saying that doing so will not only create well-paid jobs but will better position the country to win "the future of transportation" and "outcompete" China.
"There is no turning back" on the future of an electric automobile industry, Biden said at the White House. "The question is whether we'll lead or fall behind in the race for the future. It's whether we'll build these vehicles and the batteries...or we're going to have to rely on other countries for those batteries."
China is now leading the race, being one of the largest and fastest-growing EV markets in the world and having dominance over its manufacturing capacity for batteries, the U.S. president warned.
Biden's executive order will also start off the development of long-term fuel efficiency and emissions standards to advance efforts to tackle the climate crisis, according to the White House.
As the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, Biden has vowed to roughly halve emissions from 2005 levels in 2030, underscoring a shift from the previous administration led by Donald Trump that oversaw a rollback on environmental policies and withdrew the United States from the Paris climate accord.
Companies including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. said in a joint statement that they share the "aspiration" to achieve sales of 40-50 percent of annual U.S. volumes of electrified vehicles by 2030 in order to "move the nation closer to a zero-emissions future consistent with Paris climate goals."
But they also said the development "represents a dramatic shift from the U.S. market today" that can be achieved only with the timely deployment of the full suite of electrification policies committed to by the Biden administration, including purchase incentives, a comprehensive charging network to support millions of vehicles and investments in research and development.
Toyota said in a statement that the Biden administration's target is "great for the environment" and that the company will "do our part."
Japan's Honda Motor Co., along with Germany's BMW AG and some other companies, said in a separate joint statement that they remain committed to "leading the industry in fighting against climate change" and they "support the administration's goal of reaching an electric vehicle future."
The Biden administration said the latest announcements will put the United States on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new passenger vehicle sales by more than 60 percent in 2030 compared with vehicles sold last year.
Among electrified vehicles, EVs have a battery instead of a gasoline tank, while plug-in hybrid electric vehicles use both gasoline and electricity as fuel sources but can run on electric power without gas until the charged batteries run out.
Fuel cell vehicles are similar to EVs, but are different in that they can generate their electricity onboard.
