Although the polls open to voters in November, the past month has been eventful in the run-up to the U.S. Presidential Election.
While the Democratic Party rallied its supporters around Vice President Kamala Harris before the Democratic National convention, the Republican challenger, former president Donald J. Trump, is not giving up on his attempt to regain control of the White House.
Related: With Joe out, where does Kamala stand on EVs?
One key issue, electric cars, and EV adoption is a cog in an even larger Harris position on the environment and climate change and a political boogeyman for Trump. However, his language has changed around it thanks to the influence of one particular fan.
Former US President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a campaign event in Atlanta, Aug. 3, 2024.
From hater to somewhat reasonable
During. a campaign rally in Atlanta on Aug. 3, the former president openly admitted that he is “for” electric cars in an attempt to clarify his position on the subject to the crowd.
Trump credited Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s endorsement with helping him soften his position, though he maintained his staunch position against President Biden’s alleged “EV mandate.”
“She wants to get rid of gas-powered cars and replace them with all electric,” Trump said during the speech, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris. “They don’t go far, they cost too much, they’re all made in China; other than that they’re fantastic, and I’m for electric cars.”
“I have to be, you know, because Elon endorsed me very strongly, Elon. So I have no choice.”
Trump imagined EVs as part of a broader spectrum of transportation that emphasizes choice, noting that gas cars could still be part of the equation. However, he expressed that he thinks focusing on switching to purely EVs was not a good call, partially due to the cost of EV chargers.
“I’m for a small slice as a slice. You want to have every kind of a car imaginable,” Trump said. “You want to have gas-propelled cars, you want to have hybrids, you want to have every kind of a car imaginable. They want to go all electric, and there’s no way you can ever load them up. They call it loading them, you can’t load them.”
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A campaign against bureaucracy
Despite his softer view on EVs, Trump’s staunch view on the Biden administration’s “EV mandate” is still the political elephant in the room when it comes to policy.
Though the Biden administration does not have an “EV mandate” in place, Trump may have been referring to the newly revised EPA rules unveiled in March, which were looser than those unveiled in 2023.
Under the revised rules, the administration targets at least 56% of new vehicle sales to be EVs by 2032, a reduction from nearly 67% the previous year.
To achieve those targets, the administration has encouraged EV growth by investing in charging infrastructure and offering more than a billion dollars in federal tax incentives for EVs and plug-in hybrids through the Inflation Reduction Act.
However, like any staunch anti-“big government” Republican, any action made toward highlighting electric vehicles is too much for the former President.
Related: Trump’s VP pick is the EV industry’s worst nightmare
An even bigger flip-flopper: J.D. Vance
Before running for the Senate, current Republican Vice Presidential hopeful J.D. Vance held somewhat progressive views about climate change before shifting his tone to one of a climate change skeptic.
According to Open Secrets, a public website that tracks individual politicians’ campaign contributions, Vance has received $340,289 from the oil and gas industry since 2019, which has fueled rhetoric that is pro-fracking, pro-oil, anti-climate, and anti-EV.
Before stepping onto the Senate floor, Vance was already a staunch opponent of the Biden Administration’s centerpiece of green initiatives: the Inflation Reduction Act.
He called the $370 billion piece of legislation “dumb” and claimed that it would “[do] nothing for the environment and will make us all poorer.”
One of Vance’s proposals as a senator was the Drive American Act, a bill that would remove the $7,500 EV tax credit funded by the I.R.A. and replace it with a subsidy of the same amount for American-made gas-guzzlers.
In a statement about the bill in 2023, he echoed some of Trump’s current rhetoric about EVs.
“Right now, the official policy of the Biden administration is to spend billions of dollars on subsidies for electric vehicles made overseas,” Vance wrote.
“If we’re subsidizing anything, it ought to be Ohio workers – not the green energy daydreams that are offshoring their jobs to China. We can secure a bright future for American autoworkers by passing this legislation and reversing the misguided policies of the Biden administration.”
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