If we consider their personal preferences, Joe Biden fits more into the great automotive tradition of his country than Donald Trump. Fascinated by American beauties, the president-elect is known to be the owner of a superb 1967 bottle-green Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. A wedding gift from his father, who was Delaware’s largest General Motors dealer. Donald Trump, he collected billionaire’s cars with an assumed penchant for the European luxury elite. Ferrari F430 and Rolls-Royce Phantom, in particular.
However, it is Joe Biden who is preparing to shake up the American automobile exception, ardently defended by his predecessor in the name of regaining lost jobs. In four years, he methodically unraveled the Obama plan of 2012 which provided for a drop in average consumption of 3.5% from 2017 to 2021 and then 5% until 2025. He replaced it with a much less ambitious objective. in the form of a reduction on a gentle slope, limited to 1.5% per year.
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“The president will take the time to discuss”
During his election campaign, the Democratic candidate promised to toughen antipollution standards and encourage the advent of electric models, in particular by expanding the federal tax credit of 7,500 dollars (6,200 euros) allocated for the acquisition. of such a vehicle. It also intends to install 500,000 charging stations by 2030. The United States, according to the Department of Energy, only 87,600, two times less than in the European Union.
The implementation of a new policy aimed at reducing the fuel consumption levels of new vehicles will not be immediate. “Unlike Europe where everything can go very quickly, the president will take the time to discuss with the builders, the environment agency and environmental associations in order to work out a compromise”, underlines Bertrand Rakoto, consultant at Ducker. According to him, “It is unlikely that future standards will come into force before 2023 and, in any case, there will be no question of penalties or French hyper-taxation. Biden will speed up the inevitable electrification, but he will not reduce the size of cars or change the habits of Americans, who are very fond of pick-ups ”.
These federal rules of the game will provide a floor. As recalled by Jamel Taganza, consultant within the firm Inovev, “In the United States, environmental standards are also the responsibility of states and Texas does not have the same vision as California”.
Pendulum return
California, in fact, has played an intense game of showdown with the Trump administration, which has challenged in court its ability to adopt much stricter pollution regulations. The builders had to choose their side. While Ford, Honda, BMW, Volvo and Volkswagen have negotiated an agreement with California, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and also Toyota have supported the federal state’s legal action.
However GM, the first American group, announced on November 23 its rallying to the winning side by dissociating itself from the legal action launched under the aegis of the outgoing president. An about-face greeted by Joe Biden, convinced that it “Shows once again how the Trump administration’s efforts to erode American ingenuity and the means to combat the climate threat are short-sighted.”
This pendulum swing reminds us that the car constitutes another cleavage between two Americas. On the one hand, the traditionalists, sometimes lovers of “Gas guzzlers” fueled with hydrocarbons, point out that while American models emit more CO2, on the other hand, they are better placed with regard to particles and nitrogen oxides. And that the electricity produced in the United States is not particularly “clean”. On the other hand, the progressives, fascinated by electrified models, the expression of a new ecological and technological “coolness”, determined to reinstate the American car in modernity.
A 100% electric Ford Mustang
In the United States, the geography of automotive tastes largely overlaps that of political preferences. While the center of the country, largely republican, remains the stronghold of pick-ups and large SUVs, we more often come across European, Japanese, hybrid or electric models on the East or West coasts. A duality that could be exacerbated by a proactive “greening” policy. It is difficult to see, in fact, the Proud Boys, far-right militiamen, swapping their Dodge Ram for a Tesla …
It remains to be hoped that we will not witness a return to grace in the practice of “Coal rolling”. A provocation by certain drivers of large diesel pick-ups which consists, when approaching an electric or hybrid car, in releasing a thick black smoke formed thanks to a device connected to the injection system. Another militant act: voluntarily parking in front of a charging station to prevent access to electric cars.
In fact, Detroit has already broken with Epinal’s image of the car indifferent to environmental issues. “The American groups will not be able to produce, under satisfactory profitability conditions, models intended for their domestic market and others for Asia and Europe, two continents which have clearly made the choice of electric”, argues Jamel Taganza.
Ford, which has embarked on an ambitious “zero emission” program, has just launched the 100% electric Mustang Mach-E, and in 2021 will offer a hybrid version of its famous F150 pickup, the best-selling car in the United States. . For its part, GM will soon market a Hummer and a range of Cadillacs, also all electric.
