Election to determine the future of US automaking

Significance

Electrification of transport is central to President Joe Biden's climate agenda but November's election threatens US carmakers' costly investments in their EV transition. Already they are weighed down by slower-than-expected EV adoption and strains on revenue from a flat domestic car market.

Impacts

• Trump's anti-EV messaging in battleground states in the industrial Midwest aims to resonate with the iconic place cars have in US culture.
• Trump scrapping Biden's EV agenda would encourage Democratic states such as California to toughen their own emissions standards.
• A shortage of skilled manufacturing labour is a potential constraint on the rapid expansion of US EV production.