When Trump became President of the United States in 2017, the government suddenly became less excited about transitioning the country to electric vehicles quickly. Trump always liked coal, not renewable power. Well now it looks like we’ve got a new administration coming into the White House in January (assuming they can get the current President to leave). You know what that means: It’s time to start lobbying.
Yes, that’s right. With no time to waste, electric vehicle proponents banded together to form the Zero Emission Transportation Association with the goal to completely transition new vehicle sales to 100% electric within 10 years. It’s a bold goal, but certainly doable. If all goes well, we should be able to do it a little faster especially in places like California.
The Zero Emission Transportation Association is pushing for “an accelerated transition to electric vehicles, which will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, secure American global EV manufacturing leadership, dramatically improve public health and significantly reduce carbon pollution,” according to a statement.
Automotive News
Translation: Give us money
The nonpartisan group, based in Washington, is backed by 28 big-name corporations representing several industries. Members include EV manufacturers and startups such as Tesla, Rivian, Lordstown Motors and Lucid Motors as well as ride-hailing giant Uber and regional utilities.
Automotive News
Aw, the entire industry coming together to lobby the federal government. How sweet.
“For the first time in a generation, transportation is the leading emitter of U.S. carbon emissions. By embracing EVs, federal policymakers can help drive innovation, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and improve air quality and public health,” Joe Britton, executive director of the association, said in a statement.
“ZETA’s formation recognizes a pivotal moment for national leadership and reflects the will of the growing clean transportation sector,” he said.
“The group is putting in place the federal policies to support that goal — not mandate it,” Britton said in an email to Automotive News. “We need consumers, infrastructure and domestic manufacturing to all move in the same direction.”
The group’s policy goals include consumer incentives that encourage the adoption of EVs; federal emissions and performance standards that will send the “correct market signals” to support and accelerate the transition to zero-emission transportation; investments in infrastructure and domestic manufacturing; and federal leadership that provides “an aligned vision for electrification.”
Automotive News
“We just want so many incentives that only a moron would buy a gas car, we don’t need a mandate”