(The Center Square) – As the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency announces another round of funding for an electric vehicle rebate program, the landscape is changing after a new administration moved into the White House.
The Illinois General Assembly appropriated up to $14 million to the Illinois EPA for the EV rebate program for the current fiscal year.
“Through our nation-leading Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, the Illinois Electric Vehicle Rebate Program is making EV ownership more accessible and affordable for Illinoisans,” said Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
Pritzker has a goal of 1 million electric vehicles on Illinois roads by 2030.
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order canceling former President Joe Biden’s goal that EVs make up 50% of new cars by the end of the decade. The executive order scales back the EPA’s emission rules that currently push automakers to sell more zero- and low-emission vehicles, such as plug-in hybrids.
“I terminated the ridiculous and incredibly wasteful Green New Deal, I call it the Green New Scam, withdrew from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord, and ended the insane and costly electric vehicle mandate,” Trump told the World Economic Forum Thursday. “We’re going to let people buy the car they want to buy.”
Trump’s executive order also revokes unspent government funds for EV charging stations.
Charging infrastructure remains a hurdle in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas. Ryan McKinnon is from Charge Ahead Partnership, a coalition of businesses working to expand the country’s EV charging marketplace. He admits the public wants fast chargers, but said the industry is still in the awkward stage.
“The fact is that most charging stations remain few and far between, they’re often in really weird locations or hard to find areas, and there are tons of broken chargers,” said McKinnon.
While EV sales continue to grow around the U.S., rising to 1.3 million vehicles sold last year, that only makes up 8% of total sales of new passenger vehicles, according to Cox Automotive.
How the mandating of America’s vehicles plays out remains to be seen, and will likely end up in court. What is certain is that the battle lines have been drawn over vehicle choice.
“Leadership from the Trump-Vance administration is critical to protecting consumer choice and stopping federal and state efforts to phase out and effectively ban internal combustion engine vehicles and American-made liquid fuels,” said Chet Thompson, president of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers.