In an executive order signed on his second term's first day, President Donald Trump targeted an electric vehicle sales goal enacted by his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. 

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump said, "I will ... terminate (Biden's) electric vehicle mandate. If you want to buy an electric car, that's fine, but you're going to be able to buy every other form of car also."

Trump's decision to frame the Biden policy as "mandates" was inaccurate; they are more accurately described as goals. Either way, however, Trump sought to overturn the policy through his Jan. 20 executive order.

Trump's order addressed a broad range of issues in the energy and environment sphere. Part of the order said it would:

"(P)romote true consumer choice, which is essential for economic growth and innovation, by removing regulatory barriers to motor vehicle access; by ensuring a level regulatory playing field for consumer choice in vehicles; by terminating, where appropriate, state emissions waivers that function to limit sales of gasoline-powered automobiles; and by considering the elimination of unfair subsidies and other ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions that favor EVs over other technologies and effectively mandate their purchase by individuals, private businesses, and government entities alike by rendering other types of vehicles unaffordable."

Trump's order specifically listed Biden's Aug. 5, 2021, Executive Order 14037 as a target for being overturned.

Included in Biden's 2021 order was "a goal that 50 percent of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold in 2030 be zero-emission vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles."

Although it's inaccurate to call the Biden policy a mandate, it's reasonable to consider it — and Trump's executive order countering it — significant, said Jeremy Michalek, a mechanical engineering and engineering and public policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University. 

"Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and the Environmental Protection Agency rules are arguably the single largest factor determining transportation greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.," Michalek said. The Biden-era policy was "strict enough that it is expected that automakers would need to produce an increasing share of zero-tailpipe electric vehicles in order to comply, so relaxing these standards would reduce the portion of the fleet that effectively needs to electrify."

Tesla electric vehicles are charged at a station in Anaheim, Calif., in 2023. (AP)

Also, the part of Trump's order that discusses terminating state emissions waivers appears to target California, which, under a long-standing federal waiver, has instituted tougher air quality policies than the broader nation. California has established an escalating scale for the percentage of new zero-emission cars and light trucks that must be sold on car lots  — 35% by 2026, 68% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.

"Successfully revoking the waiver would put major constraints on California's ability to set its own rules and incentives," Michalek said.

Trump's order faces likely court challenges and other procedural obstacles. 

"The president does not have the authority to change EPA's regulations with the blink of an eye," Michalek said. "He can direct the EPA and/or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to initiate the process of developing new rules, just as Trump did during his first term. This process takes time, involves response to public comments and must conform to rules and regulations."

Also, the effect on the industry may not be felt immediately. 

"Weakening the rules may have some effect on the speed of the electric vehicle transition, but it takes about five years to design and build a new vehicle model — longer than a presidential term," Michalek said. 

Much will also depend on consumer habits: Will car buyers continue to be eager to buy electric vehicles and persuade carmakers to produce more of them? According to Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book, U.S. electric vehicle sales reached 1.3 million in 2024, up 7.3% compared with 2023. 

Trump's executive order overturned Biden's sales goals for electric vehicles, but doing so brings a new round of rulemaking uncertainty, which, along with the likelihood of court challenges, could take time to resolve. For now, we're rating this promise In the Works.