Trump orders end to ‘electric vehicle mandate,’ subsidies

Trump provided few details on how the action would be carried out.

US President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to “eliminate the electric-vehicle mandate” — his bid to undo regulations governing automotive pollution and fuel-economy standards which he says unfairly limit consumer choice.

The directive, included in a broad energy-focused executive order, also calls for regulators to consider “the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase.”

Trump provided few details on how the action would be carried out. One option would be to order the Environmental Protection Agency to review — and potentially to rewrite — recently imposed limits on vehicle tailpipe pollution that are so strict they effectively compel automakers to sell emission-free electric models.

Although automakers have options for complying with pollution limits, they’re currently expected to meet them by selling more lower-emission plug-in hybrids and zero-emission EVs, while also scaling back sales of internal combustion engine models.

While it would take an act of Congress to fully repeal the popular $7,500 consumer rebate, Trump has authority to expand limits on which companies are eligible to receive the rebates, and make other tweaks. A legally enduring rule could take months to complete.