Electric Vehicles Face Uncertain Future Under Trump

Electric vehicles could face a radically new regulatory and political playing field as a new administration takes over in January. The budding Trump administration so far has been short on policy specifics. But just two days after the election, automakers' chief lobbying group, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, urged President-Elect Donald Trump's transition team to revise not only the fuel economy standards, but also the Obama administration's autonomous vehicle standards, on the grounds that they could cost its member companies billions of dollars.

"The short answer is that we don’t know what will happen with the Trump administration and electric vehicles," said Dave Reichmuth, Senior Engineer for the Union of Concerned Scientists Clean Vehicles Program. "It might be awhile before we understand the policy priorities for the new administration." Reichmuth points out that the EV tax credit is embedded in the larger federal tax code, so removing it would require action from Congress. So it’s not likely to be changed soon, even if that was the direction that was chosen.

Trump and his nascent administration has indicated a general interest in rolling back regulation of all kinds, and clean air mandates as typified by stringent CAFE standards could fit into that rollback philosophy.

Many of the cars receiving the credit come from U.S. assembly lines. None of this is expected to shake automakers' resolve to advertise and sell plug-in vehicles.

Dan Sperling, Founding Director of the University of California Davis Institute for Transportation Studies, said, "The industry has made a massive investment in electric vehicles. While some would prefer to slow it down, most companies are going to continue along that path."