As the once-and-future President Donald Trump prepares for his second term in the White House, the car industry is wondering what comes next in the transition to electric vehicles. Trump has been vocal in his opposition to electric vehicle mandates, and some of his Republican allies are laying out specific plans on the federal level for loosening fuel economy and emissions standards as well as dialing back subsidies.
One of those allies is Trump-endorsed Ohio Senator-elect Bernie Moreno, who defeated Democrat incumbent Sherrod Brown in last week’s election. Moreno, the first car dealer to be elected to the Senate, has some strong opinions on how America should move forward in the slow but steady transition to EVs, and in his words, they largely align with President Trump’s.
Bernie Moreno – Source: Gage Skidmore
“I think [Trump and I] are on the same page here,” Moreno told the Detroit Free Press in an interview. His rhetoric about electric cars largely mirrors what we’ve heard from other Republicans in recent years: that the market should have more power than the government in dictating what Americans drive.
“The problem with GM, Ford, and Stellantis is that they made the decision to pacify the Biden-Harris administration and not call them out for the ridiculousness of their electric vehicle policies,” Moreno said. “Toyota, in listening to their car dealers, they planned to have the cars that consumers wanted. So the big winner now is Toyota because they don’t have to pivot.”
A few of Moreno’s proposals for changes in car-related federal policies include removing the EV tax credit, repealing emission standards that can only be met with EVs, freezing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards for “at least a decade,” and prohibiting the California Air Resources Board (CARB) from following its own set of emissions standards or imposing its own mandates.
Moreno spoke specifically about General Motors in the wide-ranging interview. “I want to see that plant producing automobiles again,” Moreno said of the shuttered GM Lordstown Assembly plant in Ohio, which used to build the Chevy Cruze. Car production is unlikely to restart at the old Lordstown plant since it’s currently owned by Taiwanese firm Foxconn, which plans to build battery packs for electric tractors.
“[Lordstown] is symbolic of what we need to do. We need to turn things around,” Moreno continued. “That community did everything right. These are people who went to work every single day. They followed the rules, they tried to raise their families, and make ends meet and the rug got pulled out from under them. That’s got to end.” Moreno also said he knows Mary Barra and called her a “very capable CEO.”
GM spokeswoman Liz Winter sent the Detroit Free Press the following statement when asked about Moreno’s initiatives: “We look forward to working with Senator-elect Moreno on important issues ahead for the auto industry. GM remains committed to supporting jobs, driving innovation, and keeping America competitive globally. We’ve invested more than $5.6 billion in GM facilities in Ohio since 2013, including a joint venture with LG Energy Solution that employs 2,200 people and positions the industry for the future.”
With Republican control of the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government, some of these policy changes could happen quickly. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit that many manufacturers, including GM, rely on to make their EVs more affordable appears to be one of the top items on the chopping block. “The United States government – if I have anything to do with it, I’m one of 100 [U.S. Senators], and President Trump obviously makes a decision on this as well – but my suspicion is that electric vehicle subsidies are gone,” Moreno said. “So now there’s no subsidy. You buy an electric vehicle, the car stands on its own.”
Time will tell what the future holds for EVs in the U.S., but if you want that tax credit, you may want to start shopping for your next EV soon.
Clawing back some of last week's losses.
A simpler design may be preferred.
One of them comes with mannequins of the Clampett family.
With a few basic choices.
Five trim levels for Tahoe, three for Suburban.
View Comments
Good Job Trump! Stop shoving this nonsense down our throats. Give the PEOPLE the opportunity to choose instead of being told to do so!!! Opportunity leads to motivation, motivation leads to innovation, and innovation leads to success for EVERYONE!
you cant choose an ICE vehicle now?
@syj215
Yes I can, but the EV nonsense push and telling “we the people” that by the year 2035 there will be nothing but EVs is ridiculous.
What they say will happen, and what actually happens are often two different things.
Technology keeps moving faster and faster, especially with AI. Focus more on the now, and less on what "might" happen a decade from now. A decade is a long time from now. Many of us won't be here by 2035.
I won't be.
The federal target was 50% EVs by 2030, no one was going to force you to buy one.
Even in the CARB states, it’s a sales percentage target for the manufacturers that if they fail to meet they pay fines. They could still choose to sell ICE vehicles and just pay the fines.
Also, a certain percentage are allowed to be plug-in hybrids.
“So now there’s no subsidy. You buy an electric vehicle, the car stands on its own.”
As it should be...If you rely on that subsidy to sell the vehicle, it is priced too high for the market. This is a free market, the customer should decide what sells and what doesn't, not the government. I don't hate EV's, they may have their place in the world one day, but we as a country are many decades away from fully transitioning to an all EV transportation system. If you want an EV, go buy an EV. If you want a V8 truck, you should be able to buy one. I look forward to Trump bringing emission standards back to more realistic levels, however, the next Democrat President elected with some support in Congress will reinstate this madness.
I heard the same whining back in the '70s about unrealistic CAFE. standards and the transitioning to unleaded gasoline.
It was deemed unrealistic for V8 engines to get much over 12 MPG.
The CAFE standards literally doomed the auto industry in the late 1970s early 1980s. Remember the Malaise Era cars of sub 100 HP vehicles?
Tigger,
They also said back in the '70 and '80s that CAFE standards and unleaded gas would put an end to any high performance engines in consumer automobiles. That proved not to be true. Today's modern gasoline engines get better gas mileage and have higher horsepower then anytime in the past.
And it only took 30+ years to get there.
If you had any knowledge of "de-smogged" V8's in the 70's and how the EPA crammed tailpipe pollution regulations onto the Auto Makers, prior to the advent of reasonably sized computers, you would know that the huge engines required to move American vehicles due to low H.P. figures from de-smogging was the result of those regulations.
this isnt a free market. Not close to one.
This is NOT likely to happen. Trump is easily manipulated when it comes to dollar signs. And his “world’s-richest-man” benefactor, Elon Musk, now OWNS him. And will protect his own investment in Tesla EVs for personal and commercial use.
Elon Musk is going to play Trump like a Stradivarius.
Elon will use Trump to get the EPA off his back for the pollution the massive rocket engines cause in the atmosphere giving his buddies Joyrides into space.
Not to mention, Kentucky Fried Chicken, cheeseburgers and prostitutes.
Let's have a vote. Read all comments and vote for the paid GM Company Troll of the Day.
Do you really think that GM cares about the mostly nonsensical comments on this website.
I’m an old Army guy and would love to see an electric Black Hawk helicopter get off the ground. Or a 70 ton M1 tank electric without a back up ICE engine. Current technology does not support yet, maybe someday when we have Warp drive.
So you haven’t seen all the eVTOLS out there?
Name one eVTOL that has 3,000 lbs of internal payload capacity and over 20,000 lbs of total takeoff weight.
You're comparing a .22LR to a 81mm.
Ask yourself this question, why is Wall Street so heavily invested in EV? Why do they hate Trump and the oil industry? They can’t push them around (control). Wall Street loves millionaires, can’t control Trump
Toyota is doing well with hybrids.
Not sure how true this is, GM is experimenting with hydrogen fuel cell instead of batteries.
Jay Leno was given a BMW to test out, piston engine, flex fuel hydrogen/gasoline. I seen a Silverado pickup with ICE engine burning pure hydrogen, larger radiator and fuel system mods. What comes out of the tail pipe? Drinkable water
The headline is one letter off, Should instead of Could!
Bernie Moreno is a bit less than honest. He was found quilty in court of cheating folks that worked in his Cleveland area dealerships of their overtime pay. He was court ordered to pay his workers $420,000, but who knows exactly how much he actually cheated his workers. He also acknowledged in courtroom during the trial that he had shredded all the pay accounting documents supporting the workers claims. No wonder Trump likes this guy.
Bernie Moreno was born in Bogata, Columbia his family moving to the U.S. when he was five. Interestingly Moreno worked for gm in Massachusetts before moving to Cleveland. If Trump ends the EV credits I’m sure that Moreno now in the Senate will support him.