News & Resources / The Federal Government’s Electric Vehicle Agenda is Putting the Cart Before the Horse

The Federal Government’s Electric Vehicle Agenda is Putting the Cart Before the Horse

The federal government’s electric vehicle crusade is off to a bumpy start. After announcing pollution regulations in 2023 that would have pressured up to two-thirds of new cars sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032, the Biden administration is pumping the breaks. The timeline has been slowed with the new target being slashed in half. 

But despite watering down the initial EV agenda, the goal remains extremely ambitious—and to some, unrealistic. (For context, EVs represented 7.6 percent of the U.S. vehicle market in 2023, according to Kelly Blue Book.)

While sales of electric vehicles are predicted to increase, the degree of consumer demand expected by the White House hasn’t panned out. As CNBC put it, “the buzz around electric vehicles is wearing off.” 

As a result, executives at major auto manufacturers are scaling back or delaying EV plans. And earlier this year, after being praised by the White House for championing EVs, Hertz announced it would sell 20,000 EVs from its U.S. fleet. A statement at the time from the major car rental business noted, “[t]he Company expects this action to better balance supply against expected demand of EVs.”

Beyond a consumer demand deficit, infrastructure is another big question mark in the move away from combustible engines. 

Not only does charging vehicles require a lot of electricity that could strain the power grid, but, in many areas, charging stations are few and far between. Even Ford’s CEO acknowledged as much when driving the company’s electric truck from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas as a marketing stunt. He noted in a video posted to X that “charging has been pretty challenging.”

The Department of Transportation has thus far fallen down on the job to address this functionality obstacle. In a recent interview on Face the Nation, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was asked about the $7.5 billion in taxpayer funds that was appropriated in 2021 to build out a “national electric vehicle charging network.”

Years later, how many stations have been built? Eight. Not exactly lightning-fast construction. 

The federal government continues to push the broad adoption of electric vehicles through regulations, the tax code, and infrastructure spending. However, at this point, the agenda is putting the proverbial cart before the horse.