As promised, President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders on Day 1 of his second term, including orders to reverse former President Joe Biden’s so-called “electric vehicle mandate.”
On Monday, Jan. 20, Trump signed more than two dozen executive orders addressing a variety of issues. Among those orders was one dealing specifically with energy, including electric vehicle policies and charging infrastructure funding.
Although the executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy” does revoke specific executive orders signed by Biden, it also paints with a very broad brush, leaving virtually any climate- or energy-related regulation on the chopping block. However, there are questions about how far Trump can go in reversing certain actions, opening the floodgates to agency rulemakings and legal challenges.
“Electric vehicle mandate” in the crosshairs
Trump has laid out a policy “to eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate,’” which is likely to apply to stricter truck emission standards established last year.
In the executive order, Trump establishes a new U.S. policy to eliminate an electric vehicle mandate and to “promote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access.” The order also calls for terminating “state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles.”
What that entails remains to be seen. Trump has had his sights set on more stringent emission standards on passenger vehicles that were finalized last March. That rule does not require manufacturers to sell electric vehicles by a certain date. Rather, the higher standards would effectively compel manufacturers to have battery-electric vehicles make up between 30% to 56% of new light-duty cars from model years 2030-32 in order to stay compliant.
On the heavy-duty side, Trump may also target stricter emission standards on trucks that were also finalized last March. That rule requires 25% of model year 2032 sleeper cab tractors to be zero-emission trucks. Although the rule does not specifically require battery-electric trucks, no other technologies are being manufactured at scale for large trucks.
Those two emission rules will likely be the center of Trump’s efforts to roll back “electric vehicle mandates.” If successfully reversed, manufacturers may be able to produce vehicles consistent with standards set during Trump’s first term.
Fate of Advanced Clean Trucks
There are a handful of states with vehicle emission regulations that go above and beyond federal standards thanks to Environmental Protection Agency waivers granted to California. Those regulations are also vulnerable to Trump’s objectives.
Most notably, California’s Advanced Clean Cars II and Advanced Clean Trucks rules have been the center of controversy. In December, the EPA allowed the Golden State to move forward with its Advanced Clean Cars II rules, which require all new passenger vehicles sold in California to be zero-direct-emission by 2035. In March 2023, EPA granted a waiver for Advanced Clean Trucks, requiring 40% of new Class 8 trucks sold in California to be zero-emission by 2035.
The EPA can revoke waivers a previous administration granted. That is exactly what Trump did in 2019, when he revoked California’s waiver for Advanced Clean Cars. However, the Biden administration reinstated the waiver in 2022.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the EPA has the authority to grant California its Advanced Clean Cars waiver. That ruling is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Infrastructure funding paused, including electric vehicle charging
Trump has also ordered the federal government to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”
Essentially, the billions of dollars made available through the bipartisan infrastructure law are being frozen for at least a few months. Agencies have 90 days to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget detailing how their disbursement of funds aligns with Trump’s new policies outlined in the executive order. Any future infrastructure funding must first be signed off by OMB.
In announcing that he will be “terminating the Green New Deal,” Trump specifically pointed to electric vehicle charging. The executive order requires the pausing of funding for “electric vehicle charging stations made available through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program.” Those Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act programs allocate $7.5 billion to build out a nationwide network of 500,000 electric vehicle chargers.
The lack of a charging infrastructure has been a strong talking point of those critical of electric vehicles. Several states implementing Advanced Clean Trucks, for example, have very few publicly available charging stations for electric trucks.
What’s next?
Reversing established regulations can be a lengthy – and not always successful – process.
Executive orders are limited in their powers. Any directives they give must follow applicable federal laws and the Constitution. There are two main mechanisms by which Trump can fulfill his orders: regulation and legislation.
A likely path toward eliminating federal emission standards and California’s waivers is through the rulemaking process. Trump’s EPA can issue a rule that simultaneously sets lower emission standards and revokes California’s waiver. That is the process he chose when invalidating Advanced Clean Cars and amending greenhouse gas and Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards in 2019.
Trump also has the option to have Congress carry out his orders by passing bills for him to sign into law. Although laws are more difficult for a future administration to dissolve compared to agency regulations, they are also more difficult to get through Congress. Republicans control both chambers but by the slimmest of margins.
Either way, any attempt to reverse vehicle emission standards is virtually guaranteed to be challenged in court. A court can pause any of Trump’s actions while litigation plays out. Trump’s 2019 reversals were challenged in federal court and were rendered moot after Biden took over the White House and reversed Trump’s reversals.
Meanwhile, there are still several federal lawsuits pending that challenge Biden’s emission standards, including the heavy-duty truck standards and Advanced Clean Trucks. Trump’s executive order directs agencies to review such lawsuits and ask for courts to pause or delay litigation as necessary.
Bottom line: An elimination of an “electric vehicle mandate” cannot be done in the stroke of a pen and will likely take some time to execute. LL
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