Trump pledges end to EV ‘mandate’ on day one driving EV shares lower

Shares of U.S. electric vehicle automakers are under pressure after former President Trump said he will “end the electric vehicle mandate on day one,” in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, “saving the U.S. auto industry from complete obliteration.”

Trump was likely referring to strict regulations from the U.S. Environment Protection Agency limiting tailpipe emissions that critics claim would force auto manufacturers to sell more EV and hybrids over internal combustion engine, or ICE, vehicles.

Shares of Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID), Ford (F), and General Motors (GM) – which are either exclusive EV manufacturers or have made heavy investments in EV – are all trading in the red.

The EV industry faces a very different future under a second Trump presidential term compared to current President and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Dismissing the pivot to electric and hybrid vehicles as a “green new scam,” Trump has pledged to redirect the “trillions in wasteful spending” on BEVs/EVs/hybrids to infrastructure, while Biden has set a goal of half of all vehicle sales being electric by the start of the next decade.