South Korea’s Hyundai Kona electric vehicle on display at the 2023 New York International Auto Show
Letter from the US: Biden calls time on petroleum-fuelled vehicles
Rules mandating EV sales will transform the US automotive industry, but there are significant practical and judicial challenges
The Biden administration introduced rules in mid-April mandating that electric vehicles (EVs) comprise 60pc of new US vehicles sold by 2030 and 67pc by 2032. The rules will essentially regulate internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) out of business by being so stringent that car companies will not be able to comply. However, sales will likely fall well short of the administration’s targets, with the EIA forecasting that EVs’ share of US vehicle stocks will increase from 1pc in 2021 to only 9pc in 2050. And the regulation could create a host of problems unless technological progress makes EVs categorically cheaper and more convenient to use than their gasoline equivalents, prompting lawy
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
