President Joe Biden signed a new “But American” executive order, which includes plans to replace the government’s fleet of cars and trucks with electric vehicles assembled in the U.S.
Currently there are not that many all-electric vehicles being assembled in the U.S. Tesla, General Motors and Nissan Motor produce EVs domestically, while Ford Motor and others have announced plans to do so.
While Biden did not specify a time frame for the fleet changeover, he indicated that the switch will support his administration’s plan to create 1 million new jobs in the U.S. auto industry.
Biden also announced plans for stricter use of American-made parts in government-purchased vehicles, which will make it even more difficult to switch over the fleet. “The content threshold of 50% [isn’t] high enough, and the way we measure the content doesn’t account for U.S. jobs and economic activity,” Biden said. “We’re going to change that as well. The executive action I’m signing today will not only require the companies make more of their components in America, but that the value of those components is contributing to our economy, measured by things like a number of American jobs created and/or supported.”