{"id":74566,"date":"2024-07-19T02:57:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T06:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=74566"},"modified":"2024-07-19T02:57:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T06:57:03","slug":"after-musk-commits-180m-trump-says-hell-end-ev-mandate-that-doesnt-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/?p=74566","title":{"rendered":"After Musk commits $180m, Trump says he’ll end EV mandate that doesn’t exist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At tonight\u2019s Republican National Convention speech, Donald Trump declared that he\u2019ll \u201cend the electric vehicle mandate.\u201d The only problem is, there is no electric vehicle mandate.<\/p>\n

The regulations he\u2019s talking about are probably the EPA regulations, which notably do not mandate electric vehicles at all. Those regulations were supported by Tesla \u2013\u00a0whose CEO just committed $180 million<\/a> to the same person who seems to know nothing about the industry Tesla operates in.<\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, the EPA finalized significant exhaust regulations<\/a> which will save Americans $100 billion dollars in fuel, health and climate costs per year, and save 2,000 lives per year and cut 7 billion tons of climate pollution in total.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, these are great regulations all around. Everyone wants to save money on fuel and health costs, and fighting climate change and saving lives sure is a big benefit too.<\/p>\n

They could have been better, but after lobbying from the auto and oil industries, those regulations were softened compared to the original proposal<\/a>. In the end, the compromise was favored by groups across the spectrum \u2013\u00a0scientists, public interest groups, environmental activists, unions, and the auto industry all were reasonably satisfied with the regulations, even if the first few groups would have liked them to be stronger.<\/p>\n

One notable group that got involved in lobbying for these regulations was Tesla. Tesla, Lucid and Rivian<\/a> all filed briefs supporting \u201calternative 1,\u201d the strongest option which was actually stronger than the original proposal, while other automakers supported much worse sets of regulations.<\/p>\n

In the end, the regulations are \u201ctechnology-agnostic,\u201d which means that automakers can choose to meet these regulations using whatever engine technology they can. There is no mandate on how automakers must meet them, and several proposed pathways to act as an example of how automakers might make it.<\/p>\n

This includes more efficient gas engines, more hybrids, a heavy EV mix, use of hydrogen vehicles, smaller vehicles, and so on. At no point do the regulations mandate any technology, and they in fact explicitly point out that no technology is mandated.<\/p>\n

But, that reality didn\u2019t stop an ignorant political candidate from speaking yet more lies about how electric vehicles or how government regulations work. Neither did the $45 million per month (~$180 million in total) committed this week by the CEO of the company that lobbied for stronger regulations.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s speech shows ignorance on EVs & government regulations<\/h2>\n

In Trump\u2019s speech accepting the republican nomination, attempting for a third time to finally win majority support from the country he seeks to lead, there was a short segment about electric vehicles:<\/p>\n

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I will END the Electric Vehicle Mandate on Day One \u2014 thereby saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration which is happening right now, and saving U.S. customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This passage, as is the case with most of the things Trump says about electric cars<\/a> (and, uh, many other topics), is all false.<\/p>\n

First, as covered above, there is no EV mandate. He is probably talking about the new EPA regulations, and those regulations do not require EVs.<\/p>\n

Second, it is unlikely that he can end the EPA regulations on day one. As we covered recently, the \u201cSupreme\u201d Court opined in June<\/a> that executive agencies should have less leeway to interpret law than they have historically been operating with. This opinion is phenomenally stupid<\/a> from an openly<\/a> corrupt<\/a> court, but it also means that an executive, even one who claims himself as a dictator<\/a>, will have less power to change the rules willy-nilly than Trump is claiming here.<\/p>\n

Even under the actual law, before it was misinterpreted by this court, day one regulations are not possible. Under the Administrative Procedures Act, regulations must not be \u201carbitrary and capricious.\u201d This means that there must be proper notice and thought given to regulatory changes, and there must be public comment periods for those changes.<\/p>\n

And this was a major issue the first time Trump found his way into the White House, when his illegitimate attempts at haphazard regulation were thrown out in court over and over. The Natural Resources Defense Council, a group that undertakes legal challenges to protect the environment, won 92% of their cases against the Trump EPA due to their incompetence.<\/p>\n

So \u2013 the \u201cday one\u201d promise is simply not possible. Lie number two.<\/p>\n

Third, setting regulations that will drag the auto industry, kicking and screaming, into modernizing their vehicles, is much more likely to save<\/em> the industry than it is to \u201cobliterate\u201d it.<\/p>\n

This should be incredibly apparent to anyone who has taken even a cursory glance at the global auto industry today. Over the last few years, Chinese companies have drastically improved their quality and are now exporting EVs worldwide at a rapid pace \u2013\u00a0with China becoming the largest car exporting country this year, overtaking Japan.<\/p>\n

There are several reasons for this, but a large chunk of it is because China has undertaken a concerted national effort to build up its EV industry at every level \u2013 from securing mineral partnerships through its Belt & Road Initiative<\/a>, building up mineral refining capacity which it leads the world in, and subsidizing domestic manufacturing leading to a boom in Chinese EV companies which has now borne fruit (and in fact, China is now pulling back on some of its subsidies, considering the job done).<\/p>\n

Given that EVs are the future (and present) of the auto industry and no serious person denies this, then it is quite apparent that China\u2019s concerted effort to become the best suppliers of EVs has been an important strategic move.<\/p>\n

If America wants to compete with that, it\u2019s not going to compete by putting its head in the sand and pretending nothing is happening. No company has ever won by ignoring the competition, or ignoring the status of the market as it is.<\/p>\n

Surrendering and refusing to progress is in fact the best way to ensure obliteration of the American auto industry \u2013\u00a0and this is what the industry would do if left to its own devices. As shown by their lobbying, they want slow action, and the EPA\u2019s new regulations force them to get up and actually compete in the market as it exists, not as they want it to exist. Reversing those regulations would lull those companies into a false sense of security, and be their downfall.<\/p>\n

You can read more about this point, and how it\u2019s related to Biden\u2019s recent tariff decision<\/a> (and Trump\u2019s similar tariff proposal \u2013\u00a0both of which are bad ideas), here: Tariffs on China aren\u2019t the way to win the EV arms race \u2013\u00a0getting serious on EVs is<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

So lie number three \u2013\u00a0it is much more likely that Trump\u2019s stated regulatory efforts would lead to a downfall of American auto than the EPA\u2019s current regulations will. (And that\u2019s not even taking into account the incompetence<\/a> that Trump seems to attract, leading to really stupid regulations<\/a>).<\/p>\n

And, fourth, the regulation in question saves Americans over a hundred billion dollars annually, and $6,000 per car, in reduced fuel, health and climate costs. So ending that regulation would not \u201csave US customers thousands of dollars per car,\u201d it would in fact cost US customers thousands of dollars per car.<\/p>\n

So \u2013\u00a0nearly every word of this passage is a lie, or relies on a lack of understanding of the regulation in question. Not much of a surprise, but, might as well document it.<\/p>\n

More lies about EV chargers later in the speech<\/h2>\n

Trump later went on to show more ignorance of the way that federal EV charging funds work, and to lie about them as well. Here\u2019s that passage:<\/p>\n

\n

So instead we\u2019re spending \u2013 places where they recharge electric cars \u2013\u00a0they built 8 chargers at a certain location toward the midwest, 8 chargers for 9 billion dollars. Think of them as a tank for filling up your gas, think of it, they spent 9 billion dollars on 8 chargers \u2013 3 of which didn\u2019t work. And if you are going to do this all over the country, this crazy electric mandate \u2013 and by the way I\u2019m all for electric, they have their application \u2013 but if somebody wants to buy a gas powered car, gasoline powered car, or a hybrid, they\u2019re gonna be able to do it. And we\u2019re gonna make that change on day one.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Again, virtually all of this is incorrect.<\/p>\n

The program in question totals $7.5 billion, not $9 billion. $5 billion comes from a program called NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) in the Inflation Reduction Act and $2.5 billion comes from a program called Charging and Fueling Infrastructure from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (something which Trump was never able to pass<\/a>).<\/p>\n

And that program did not spend that amount of money on 8 chargers, either.<\/p>\n

The way the program works is that the funds are made available by the federal government, and then states can submit plans to receive their portion of charger funds. If those plans meet the standards set out by the federal government, then the project can start.<\/p>\n

The first stations to open using NEVI funds have opened in the last several months, with the first site opening in Ohio<\/a> in December, and sites in other states since then (including Maine<\/a> and Vermont<\/a> \u2013 not quite the midwest).<\/p>\n

There are indeed 8 charging sites open right now, but they are across six states, with 33 total charging ports. So there are not \u201c8 chargers\u201d and the assertion that \u201c3 of them didn\u2019t work\u201d is not only incorrect, but nonsensical. There is no indication that 3 of the entire sites \u201cdidn\u2019t work\u201d \u2013\u00a0maybe it\u2019s some rumor Trump got tricked by on social media (as seems to happen to him often).<\/p>\n

There are however many other sites where plans have been submitted<\/a> or ground has been broken<\/a>, where chargers will open in the future. And billions in funds are still available for states to use, but some states are actively blocking its use<\/a>, harming their residents in order to make some sort of boneheaded political point. So if Trump is so angry about inefficiency, perhaps he should contact some of the clowns in his own party and ask them to stop causing it.<\/p>\n

Another potential reason that NEVI has taken time to get moving is because, well, one major republican donor<\/a>, Elon Musk, just fired the entire charging team<\/a> at the company where he made all his money, then was forced to send an email to all the contractors working on chargers indicating that nobody has any idea what\u2019s going on<\/a>. Given that Tesla is the leading EV charging company in America, that tends to put a damper on development.<\/p>\n

And that brings up one more point, referred to earlier in this article and in its title. Just this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk donated a huge sum of money to Mr. Trump, wanting to elect this anti-EV candidate to the presidency. Some at the time said that this was an attempt to get Trump to stop his attacks on EVs, or to get Tesla a space at the table for preferential treatment.<\/p>\n

However, even though Trump rewrote his speech after that donation was made, the portions targeting electric vehicles, and showing tremendous ignorance about them, were still included. In particular, Trump mischaracterized and then promised to repeal regulations that Tesla themselves lobbied to strengthen.<\/p>\n

Great job, Elon. Real smart move, once again. 7 dimensional chess or something, surely.<\/p>\n

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FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.<\/em> More.<\/a><\/p>\n

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At tonight\u2019s Republican National Convention speech, Donald Trump declared that he\u2019ll \u201cend the electric vehicle mandate.\u201d The only problem is, there is no electric vehicle mandate. The regulations he\u2019s talking about are probably the EPA regulations, which notably do not mandate electric vehicles at all. Those regulations were supported by Tesla \u2013\u00a0whose CEO just committed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/autosector.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}