How to Move America to Electric Vehicles

This policy brief by RMI argues that the United States requires a bold, coordinated national vision for transportation electrification by 2030 to meet climate goals and maintain global industrial competitiveness. It proposes specific targets for EV adoption and infrastructure, alongside a national industrial strategy to retool manufacturing and an aggressive fleet electrification plan.

• To align with 1.5°C climate goals, the US transportation sector must reduce carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030. This would require the electrification of 70 million EVs by 2030, assuming a concurrent 20 percent reduction in miles travelled.
• RMI recommends the federal government establish a national vision targeting 100 percent EV market share of new vehicle sales by 2035. To support this, the US would need to install 300,000 DC fast-chargers and 200,000 L2 chargers before 2030.
• The US faces a competitive risk in the automotive sector as other nations view EV manufacturing as a national imperative. In 2019, China produced 1.2 million EVs compared to fewer than 325,000 produced in the US.
• The federal government can signal market demand by electrifying its fleet of 645,000 vehicles. RMI suggests that all federal funds for fleets be directed toward EVs, ensuring only EV purchases after 2030 and full electrification of all fleets by 2035.
• RMI identifies four near-term actions for the Biden Administration: establishing a bold national vision with a government/industry commission, communicating a national industrial strategy for retooling plants and battery capacity, setting an aggressive fleet adoption strategy, and creating a nationwide education campaign.

APA

RMI (2021). How to Move America to Electric Vehicles. https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-move-america-to-electric-vehicles/

Chicago

RMI. How to Move America to Electric Vehicles. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-move-america-to-electric-vehicles/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=How to Move America to Electric Vehicles |date=28 January 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-move-america-to-electric-vehicles/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021how, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{How to Move America to Electric Vehicles}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/how-to-move-america-to-electric-vehicles/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }