US President Joe Biden has vowed to replace the nation’s government vehicles with an American-made electrically powered fleet, CNBC reports.
The commitment came as part of the “Buy American” executive order, which is designed, as its name suggests, to stimulate government procurement of US-made products.
America’s switch to electric vehicles won’t happen overnight though. It’ll also be quite expensive and challenging because there isn’t a huge amount of choice when it comes to US-made EVs.
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Perhaps the most obvious is Tesla, but General Motors and Nissan also produce electric vehicles in the country. Iconic American brand Ford doesn’t make EVs in the States yet, but has announced plans to do so. The blue oval’s Mustang Mach-E is made in Mexico.
Biden hasn’t been too specific about the criteria of what an EV is. In the executive order it simply states that vehicles must have “net zero emissions,” presumably this opens the door for other electrified vehicles such as plug-in hybrids, so long as their gasoline emissions are offset.
The US president hasn’t specified a timeline for when it’s likely to achieve its goal. One thing is for sure, with more than 640,000 vehicles in its fleet, it’s got a mountain climb.
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Published January 26, 2021 — 07:50 UTC