Many European countries have announced ambitious targets for the mass adoption of emissions-free cars in recent months, with the European Commission most recently proposing a ban on ICE cars from 2035.

Until now, the United States hasn’t entered this conversation, but it appears that is about to change. The White House is negotiating to have automakers pledge that 40 percent or more of the vehicles they sell in the US will be electric by 2030.

This is according to a report from Automotive News, which also notes that carmakers would agree to that if the government helped promote the use of EVs through increased subsidies or funding for charging infrastructure.

A pledge on new car sales would be a big thing because automakers haven’t made any promises yet on volumes despite promising to convert their model lineups to electric vehicles.

Things are not very clear at the moment, but UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the union is discussing an EV sales target with the White House and the automakers, although an agreement hasn’t been reached.

GM also said there is no agreement so far, while White House and Stellantis representatives declined to comment. As for Ford, the automaker already announced plans for at least 40 percent of its global vehicle volume to be all-electric by 2030.

The report cites a second person familiar with the negotiations who has confirmed the talks on an EV sales target; however, no agreement has been reached yet as talks are still at an early stage. Should the White House strike a agreement with automakers, it would help build support for a $550 billion bipartisan infrastructure deal that passed a procedural hurdle in the Senate this week. The bill would deliver $7.5 billion to build a nationwide network of EV chargers.

While that almost doubles all the prior public investment by utilities, states and the federal government, it’s still only a fraction of the $87 billion analysts and environmentalists say is needed this decade to enable a swift electrification of America’s cars and trucks.

Needless to say, President Joe Biden’s goal of halving U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade depends a lot on a rapid rollout of EV charging stations.

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