The Detroit trio say the Biden goals are beyond their control. Credit: Nick Antaya/Getty Images North America
When Joe Biden announced that two-thirds of all cars sold in the US would be battery-powered by 2032, the president boasted that his plan would make electric cars cheaper, create well-paid workers places and reduce emissions.
< p>And yet in Detroit, nicknamed Motor City, manufacturers are worried. In recent days, the uprising against Biden's plans has been gaining momentum, with a number of major companies warning that this policy is unrealistic.
Ford, one of the so-called Detroit Three, has warned that achieving the goal is “out of the control of car manufacturers”, given their dependence on a significant increase in the supply of lithium for batteries.
Another member of the Detroit Three, the owner Chrysler Stellaantis, said Biden's plan “greatly underestimates the actions needed to create a target market for electric vehicles.”
Its detailed list of challenges includes “capacity, battery manufacturing, charging infrastructure, and consumer adoption of electric vehicles.”
It's not just American automakers that are concerned: some of the harshest criticism comes from Honda.
Part of Biden's plan includes boosting electric vehicle sales to 50 percent in the market by 2030. But the Japanese manufacturer resented the goal, complaining that there was “only one product development cycle” left before the deadline.
The automaker also takes issue with the fact that the new rules effectively force car manufacturers to switch to electric vehicles, as opposed to previous emission reduction requirements that gave manufacturers free rein to achieve the goal.
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Honda warned: “If the market will not meet the agency's ambitious timeline – even for reasons entirely beyond the automaker's control, such as a slower-than-expected rollout of public charging infrastructure that has a chilling effect on consumer interest in electric vehicles – there is no security. network.”
Biden's plans are also backed by a bet that battery prices will drop. There is no guarantee that this will happen.
“The accuracy of this statement is arguably the most important aspect of the entire proposed regulation,” Honda said.
These concerns have been echoed by Hyundai. , which stated: “This is based on a significant anticipated decline in battery prices, which is far from guaranteed given the uncertainty in mineral availability.”
Volkswagen and Toyota have also objected to the plans.
The American automaker's lobby, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, is calling on the White House to rein in its ambitions and instead set a 40-vehicle electric vehicle sales target. -50% by 2030
He also urged the White House not to abandon paid hybrids as an alternative to fully electric cars.
Industry aside, Biden's plans are also facing political resistance. Earlier this month, a group of 25 Republicans called on Biden to drop politics.
Republicans say the new rules will lead to higher car prices, poor customer choice, and power outages.
< p>Earlier this year, 151 Republicans in the House of Representatives, led by Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Katie McMorris Rogers, criticized the new rules as a way to “force people into buying cars they can't afford.”
Joe Biden's policy to increase electric vehicle sales will come into effect in 2024. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images, North America
Even some Democrats object, albeit for different reasons. Last week, 95 people from Biden's own party called for even stricter measures.
Biden's sales targets, first announced in April, are due to go into effect in the spring of 2024, the year of the presidential election. .
This policy was introduced as America lags behind the world in all-electric vehicle sales. Only 6% of new cars sold are fully electric, compared to 14% worldwide.
Professor Peter Wells, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Cardiff University, says the small scale of sales today is partly why the industry wants to “slow down the pace of change and allow a more orderly move towards this kind of new regime.”
He adds: “The automotive industry has a long history of wailing on these issues and eventually sticking to the line.”
Some concerns, however, are warranted. There are concerns that supplies of lithium, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries, may not keep up with demand as planned by the President.
Last week, the International Energy Agency warned that the world must prepare. extracting lithium, copper, and other key minerals critical to clean energy, or risk missing key zero-emission targets.
But ultimately, the best course of action for the US auto industry may be to stop complaining and ramp up production of battery-powered cars, says Prof. Wells.
When automakers resented government demands for more fuel-efficient cars after the 1973 oil crisis, the result was higher-efficiency Japanese competitors and took over market. share.
Today, many Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are looking to increase exports after saturating the domestic market.
Professor Wells said: “The risk for American industry is that they are doing the same, and they open this market to Chinese imports. They need to learn from history and maybe move on.”
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