President Biden’s Executive Order Declares 40-50 Percent of Cars Must be Electric by 2030

President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order declared that 40-50 percent of new cars sold in the U.S. must be electric by 2030. That might seem like a lofty goal, especially considering that only two percent of the current automotive market is made up of electric cars. However, almost all U.S. automakers have jumped on board with this goal, especially given the Biden administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill, that includes a massive $7.5 billion to develop an increase charging infrastructure.

It’s also worth noting that several automakers globally have already announced that their entire lineups will go electric by the same date. Audi, in fact, recently announced that 2026 will be the last year for new internal combustion models. After 2026, all internal combustion Audis will be cars that have already been on sale. By 2033, it won’t sell a single internal combustion engine outside of China, where it will still sell gas-powered cars for short time.

Here in the ‘States, though, Audi will be a large presence in the EV world. It already has several new electric models on sale. Since 2018, Audi has launched the e-tron SUV, e-tron Sportback, e-tron GT, RS e-tron GT, Q4 e-tron, and the Q4 e-tron Sportback. Additionally, the Audi A6 e-tron is likely to be announced quite soon, as will the Q6 e-tron SUV. It’s clear that Audi is leaning hard into electrification, so there will likely be no issue with the four-ringed brand hitting Biden’s goal by 2030. In fact, there’s a good possibility 50 percent of Audi’s fleet, or even more, is fully electric a few years before that deadline.

Furthermore, President Biden also introduced another executive order, creating a new industry standard of 52 mpg by 2026. Expect more plug-in hybrids from both Audi and other manufacturers in the next few years to achieve that.

These new executive orders aren’t really any different than what many other European countries have made. Electrification is going to become the norm sooner than later, which means legislation is trying to force automakers into it. Is that the right move? Only time will tell but it’s certainly the direction we’re all headed.