(UnitedVoice.com) – Auto workers across the country went on strike for weeks in 2023. The United Auto Workers (UAW) union went up against the Big Three Detroit automakers — Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors — and they won major concessions. One of the reasons the workers were so upset had to do with President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandates. The POTUS is now getting ready to relax one of the elements of his climate change policies in a concession to workers, according to a report.
Major Change on Horizon
The Biden Administration is reportedly going to give automakers more time to increase the sales of electric vehicles over the next several years. He won’t require them to raise the number of electric vehicles sold until after 2030. Three people allegedly familiar with the plan told The New York Times that he was going to relax the limits on tailpipe emissions, too. That policy was designed to incentivize Americans to move away from gas-powered vehicles.
According to the sources, the new rule will be released by the administration by early spring, long before the presidential election. Union workers and others were concerned the transition to electric vehicles would lead to a loss of jobs in the industry.
Additionally, consumer demand is down, something automakers didn’t expect when the president made the shift toward green energy.
Problems With Electric Vehicles
The average price of an electric vehicle is more than $50,000. To put that into perspective, the average annual salary in the US is just over $59,000, but more than 11% of the country is living at or under the poverty line. That makes the vehicles unattainable for millions of working-class Americans.
Fires in electric vehicles are also a major concern because they are especially dangerous. Maryland State Fire Marshal Brian Geraci spoke to 11 News Investigates about incidences in the state. He explained that when there is a fire, it burns very fast and there’s “an explosion hazard.”
Tim Rostkowski, the chief of the Baltimore County Fire Bureau, expanded on that, saying that the fires produce a reaction called a “thermal runaway” when they move beyond one cell in the battery. That’s when they start to “generate their own heat […] move from cell to cell to cell to cell.” He said the fires can burn at more than 1,000 degrees, so firefighters have to get to them fast.
Additionally, electric vehicles don’t do well in the cold, making it tough to own one in large swaths of the country. According to a study by the American Automobile Association, they can lose as much as 40% of their range in 20-degree weather if the driver turns on the cabin heater.
It’s no wonder so many Americans are sticking to gas-powered vehicles.
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