White House car target shows LHCA’s timing is good
A call a month ago from the Leather and Hide Council of America (LHCA) for automotive companies to choose leather for the interiors of electric vehicles seems to have been well timed.
At the start of July, LHCA president, Stephen Sothmann, wrote a comment article for car industry publication Automotive News. He said car companies presenting electric vehicles (EVs) as a good way for consumers to lower their use of fossil fuels would undo much of their efforts if they use synthetic fibres in these cars’ interiors.
“For an EV industry built for the purpose of reducing our carbon footprint,” the LHCA president said, “supporting the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries [in their material choices for vehicle interiors] is problematic, counter-productive and, potentially, toxic to its branding.”
On August 5, President Joe Biden announced a set of new actions to position the US “to drive the electric vehicle future forward, outcompete China, and tackle the climate crisis”.
An important part of this is an executive order that sets a target of making 50% of all new vehicles sold in 2030 zero-emissions vehicles. These will include battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.
At the time of the announcement, the White House said China was selling three times as many EVs as the US, even though, it claimed, the US had pioneered the technology.
Automotive groups Ford and GM joined the president at the presentation of the new EV target.
The US will also invest in a national network of electric vehicle charging stations, consumer incentives to support the US auto industry and “innovating the next generation of clean technologies” to build and maintain a competitive edge.
Meeting the targets laid out on August 5 would put the US on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from new passenger vehicle sales by more than 60% in 2030 compared to the figure for 2020, the White House said.
Image: Ford
