Art of Gears
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I’m Down With Biden’s Goal of 50% Electric Vehicle Sales By 2030

By David Castro

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 05: U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters after driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xe around the White House driveway following remarks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House August 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden delivered remarks on the administration’s efforts to strengthen American leadership on clean cars and trucks. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 05: U.S. President Joe Biden answers questions from reporters after driving a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Xe around the White House driveway following remarks during an event on the South Lawn of the White House August 5, 2021 in Washington, DC. Biden delivered remarks on the administration’s efforts to strengthen American leadership on clean cars and trucks. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) /
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On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he will sign an executive order to have 50% of all vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 to be electric vehicles.

"We have to leverage a whole-of-government effort to lift up workers and strengthen American leadership in the clean cars of the future. To set that all-out effort into motion, I’m signing an executive order with a target of electrifying 50% of all vehicles sold by 2030. –  U.S. President Joe Biden on August 5, 2021"

Biden’s executive order includes battery electric, fuel cell electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and the production goal of 50% by 2030 is an effort to fight climate change, cut down on pollution, and save Americans money.

And I am absolutely down with this executive order.

I love vehicles with internal combustion engines but I also realize that the end is near for the automotive industry’s total reliance on fossil fuels. The canary in the coal mine is on life support and we need to realize this before we find ourselves (i.e. American car fans) falling behind our foreign brethren that have embraced electric vehicles.

We need to learn from the failures of the American car industry of the 1970s that did not recognize smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles would be the future. This lack of vision crippled the U.S. when the OPEC oil embargo of 1973 gave us gas shortages and inflated prices at the pump. Eventually we got the Pacer and Vega but neither car was well constructed or great on gas.

Now is not the time to procrastinate and hope everything works out because we are under the gun and without a strong push from government mandates or tax incentives to buy an EV the American auto industry will be behind the curve. Playing catch up never works, we learned that in the 1970s.

Please keep in mind that this executive order is not a federal mandate. It’s more of a proclamation and U.S. car manufacturers are down with the EV movement.

"Today, Ford, GM and Stellantis announce their shared aspiration to achieve sales of 40-50% of annual U.S. volumes of electric vehicles (battery electric, fuel cell and plug-in hybrid vehicles) by 2030…Our recent product, technology, and investment announcements highlight our collective commitment to be leaders in the U.S. transition to electric vehicles. – Joint statement by Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis on August 5, 2021."

With the major American car manufacturers onboard it’s very feasible that Biden can reach his goal of 50% electric vehicles sales by 2030 but the stumbling block is changing the minds of consumers and that isn’t easy. My wife recently purchased a VW ID.4 and we love it. It’s comfy, has a smooth ride, plenty of space for the family and it has good range.

What we have faced though is some mild criticism about the viability of EVs as the future, range on a charge and finding charging stations. Those notions were  put to rest after a recent trip to Southern California, 350-miles one way, that had plenty of charging stations well within the VW’s range.

We never had any issues on our round trip and please keep in mind that between Phoenix and Southern California there is nothing but desert without a ton of populated cities. It was like taking a normal road trip but we used charging stations at the gas station and not the pump.

More from Art of Gears

One of my favorite movies is “Saturday Night Fever”. As a former young knucklehead with a dead end job and no education I can relate to John Travolta’s John Manero. A quote from Manero’s boss, Fusco, will always ring true:

Tony Manero : Oh f*ck the future!

Fusco : No, Tony! You can’t f*ck the future. The future f*cks you! It catches up with you and it f*cks you if you ain’t planned for it?

Hopefully today’s executive order isn’t just hot air but will lead to proper change because we are f’d if we don’t make some serious changes for our beloved cars.

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