Darren Palmer, head of battery electric vehicles at Ford, describes the unique features of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning inside McCormick Place on July 14, 2021.
As of today, electric vehicles constitute an exceedingly small portion of the U.S. vehicle market.
Just 2% of new vehicle sales are electric-powered cars.
Don’t expect it to stay that way, though. Small car makers have been seeding demand for such vehicles. And major car and truck makers also are eyeing the future and committing to producing ever more of these vehicles.
Last month, the Big Three announced they hope to have up to 50% of their new vehicle sales come from electric models by 2030. The move came in conjunction with President Joe Biden’s executive order setting a nationwide target of 50% by the year 2030.
That seems like a tall order to us. But if it happens, it would be huge change for a country that loves its automobiles. Even getting halfway there would be significant, and anybody who is basing even a part of their economic futures on car and truck travel in this country ought to be ready to adapt.
That goes for the renewable fuels industry, as well as states like Iowa and Illinois that have long benefited and promoted it.
For years, renewables have been promoted by the Midwest as an alternative to carbon-based fuels — better for the environment as well a contributor to ailing rural economies.
There has long been a debate among environmentalists, economists and the renewables industry over their true efficacy of biofuels on either front. But a bipartisan consensus in the Midwest has convinced Congress and successive administrations to side with farm country, providing incentives to grow the industry, not least the 18-year-old Renewable Fuels Standard, which creates a market for renewables by requiring these fuels be blended with gasoline. Corn-based ethanol has been an especially big winner, with half of Iowa’s crop going to fuel.