President Donald Trump ended the Biden-Harris administration’s electric vehicle mandate on Monday through an executive order “Unleashing American Energy.”

The executive order, one of Trump’s first moves after his inauguration as the 47^th POTUS on Monday, rescinds a Biden order to establish a national goal of EVs comprising 50% of all car sales in the U.S. by 2030.

The goal and related emissions standards effectively eliminated most internal combustion engine vehicles, while a $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs aimed to entice EV buyers.

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According to Trump’s executive order:

“It is the policy of the United States … to eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate’ and promote 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.”

The EO was applauded by many Michigan residents.

“There should be no mandates at all,” Ken Thorne, a Newaygo County resident who attended the inauguration, told Bridge Michigan. “I’m not going to be forced (into) what vehicle I drive.”

Thorne is among a majority of Michiganders who oppose the EV mandate and government-imposed transition to EVs promoted by the Biden-Harris administration and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

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In 2023, EVs accounted for 8% of the national market share, while in Michigan that percentage is 3.2%, up a scant 0.14% since Whitmer took office in 2019, according to MichAuto.

“With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry and keeping my sacred pledge to our great American autoworkers,” Trump said Monday. “In other words, you’ll be able to buy the car of your choice. We will build automobiles in America again at a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago.”

That’s welcome news to auto workers facing massive layoffs in Michigan as interest in EV wanes. All of the Big Three – General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis – issued pink slips in 2024.

Despite the Whitmer administration funneling more $1 billion into five separate EV battery plants, just 200 of 11,000 promised jobs have materialized as of June, according to Bridge.

Some of the taxpayer-funded projects, such as a Gotion battery component plant with links to the Chinese Communist Party, remain on hold amid fierce public opposition, while others have been downsized and delayed.

In addition to ending the EV mandate, Trump also halted the distribution of unspent funds from $5 billion allocated for EV charging stations, and called for the repeal of waivers granted to states like California to ban the sale of gas-only vehicles, Innovation News reports.

In Michigan, the state had just 3,300 EV chargers toward Whitmer’s goal of 100,000 chargers and 2 million EVs by 2030, ranking 29^th per capita among states for EVs and 24^th per capita for chargers, according to MichAuto.

In a poll of 600 likely general election voters in Michigan conducted by The Detroit News and WDIV last year, only 24% said they would consider buying an EV, while 71% would not and 5% didn’t know.

“No American should be forced into buying an electric vehicle or paying higher prices due to unnecessary regulations,” Trump said during a Monday signing ceremony.

While Trump moved immediately to halt the Biden-Harris administration’s EV mandate, he did not impose promised tariffs on his first day, instead ordering his administration to review trade deficits and policies, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Whitmer expressed concerns about the impact of tariffs on Michigan’s auto industry during a recent speech at the Detroit Auto Show. On Monday, she vowed to “collaborate to solve problems and keep getting things done for the people of Michigan” in a statement congratulating the 47^th POTUS on Monday.

“Here in Michigan, we are focused on creating good-paying, local jobs, fixing the damn roads, fighting for our advanced manufacturing industries including autos, defense, maritime, and aerospace, and working with our partners in Canada to keep costs low for working families and small businesses,” she said.

“Together, with Republicans and Democrats in Lansing and the new administration in DC, I down we can lower costs, bring more manufacturing jobs to Michigan, boost research and innovation, and cut red tape.”

Other prominent Michigan politicians applauded the end of the Biden-Harris EV mandate on Tuesday.

“The electric vehicle mandate hurt our automakers and made them become more dependent on the Chinese Communist Party, which dominates the EV supply chain,” Congressman John Moolenaar, R-Midland, said in a statement.

“President Trump’s decision to end the EV mandate will help Michigan and give our auto companies the time they need to innovate and create the best technology,” he said. “It also means Michigan families won’t be pushed toward electric vehicles and will be able to choose the vehicle that best fits their needs.”