Electric vehicles | “We have passed the tipping point”
Electrification will continue even if Trump is elected, expert believes.
If elected, Donald Trump will not be able to stop the transition to electric cars, believes the CEO of the largest American charging network.
ChargePoint CEO Rick Wilmer says the electric car boom will continue even if Trump returns to the White House. At the Republican convention on July 18, Trump promised to reverse President Joe Biden’s auto electrification policy “on day one” if he’s elected on November 5.
“There has been too much investment for that, many heads of automakers and suppliers say we have passed the tipping point,” says Mr Wilmer.
In my view, overall market forces are far stronger than anything the government can do to accelerate electrification or not.
Rick Wilmer, CEO of ChargePoint
The Biden administration has committed billions to help automakers electrify their vehicles and to install a national charging network.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHARGEPOINT
ChargePoint CEO Rick Wilmer and other auto executives believe electrification has passed the tipping point. Above, ChargePoint charging stations at a Volkswagen dealership in Denver.
Wilmer, who says he's thrilled with his electric Ford F-150 Lightning, says most drivers who go electric don't go back. “For those who have driven an electric, it's a superior product, from a driving standpoint and a quietness standpoint,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s unfavorable view of electric cars, their price and reliability, is not new, but his remarks at the Republican convention made an impression. Shares of electric vehicle makers and charging companies fell the next day, with ChargePoint losing 4.9% and Tesla falling 4%.
Even if Mr. Trump rolls back Mr. Biden’s national grid plan, ChargePoint won’t be idle, said Mr. Wilmer, who expects to install chargers in large numbers at commercial buildings that offer charging to their customers or tenants.
