Toronto, Ontario — Representatives from American Honda are pushing back on U.S. President Biden’s Aug. 5 executive order that sets a goal of 50 percent of overall sales being EVs, by 2030, saying the thought is there, but the cars aren’t.
In the analysis of last week’s order, Bloomberg wrote “[Biden] has ordered the federal government to buy electric vehicles made in America with union labour. There’s just one problem: No such vehicles exist.”
This has led to a Honda corporate affairs official coming forward to state, “Unfortunately, there are currently efforts underway in congress to enact unfair, discriminatory policies that will favour EVs built by a union workforce that will limit consumer choice,” said Jennifer Thomas.
The issue critics are seeing with Biden’s plan lies in the fact that as it stands, very few EVs are produced in the U.S. at all, with the Chevrolet Bolt being the only model on the United Auto Workers’ 2021 Union-Built Vehicle Guide.
Honda, as the staunchly anti-union automaker they are, feels left out of Biden’s latest climate initiative.
“All American auto workers work hard to support their families, pay taxes and support their communities. Our production [workers] in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, and Ohio deserve fair treatment from congress and should not be penalised for their choice of a workplace,” said Thomas.
The company does give credit to President Biden’s commitment to climate goals however, and claims to be taking steps to maximize their contribution, in spite of their labour situation.
“Biden recently took a positive step toward new federal vehicle emissions standards that include the administration’s bold objective to advance America’s electric vehicle future. In so doing, the administration is aligned with the similarly bold actions taken two years ago by Honda, BMW, Ford, Volkswagen and Volvo, which entered into voluntary agreements with the state of California to establish progressive new vehicle greenhouse gas regulations,” said Thomas.
“When we entered into that agreement with California, we knew it was a bit of a risk, but for Honda, it was the right thing to do for the environment and also for our customers in all 50 states—not just those living in California and the other states that have adopted its standards. So, the administration’s action in getting back on the pathway [after President Trump had relaxed emissions rules] to strong federal fuel economy and GHG emissions standards represents an important milestone.”
