Biden unveils new rules to prod Americans to buy electric cars, but most have no plans to do so

The Biden administration on Wednesday made its most aggressive push yet to compel Americans to buy electric vehicles even as new polling shows that half the country is not that keen on the idea.

A new poll, conducted by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) and AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found 47% of adults in the U.S. say they aren’t likely to make an EV their next car. 

Just 19% of those polled said it was “very likely” or “extremely likely” that they’ll get an EV as their next automobile.

The survey also polled Americans on whether or not they believe climate change is real, of which, 74% answered it “is happening,” while only 9% say it is not. 

The poll appears to deal a blow to the President’s EV push. In 2021, Biden signed an executive order aiming for zero-emissions cars to make up half of all vehicles sold by the year 2030.

Biden on Wednesday doubled down on that effort, releasing a proposal that would raise that number to 54%, and boost it again to 67% by 2032.

The proposal is directed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and is predicted to impose strict pollution limits on every vehicle in America. The proposal is also expected to call on automakers to raise the gas mileage of their fossil fuel-operated cars, as well as find ways to reduce tailpipe emissions between now and 2026.

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