By 2030, half of all US cars are expected to be electric

US President Joe Biden wants to make his country's auto industry greener - also with a view to the competition in Europe and China. In the year 2030, half of all vehicles sold in the US will be electric, and Biden will sign a corresponding executive order, the White House said. The three big manufacturers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis with the Chrysler brand therefore agreed to the goal. Biden had already announced "big news" on the subject of electromobility on Twitter. "When I say electric cars are the future, I'm not joking," he wrote. The White House announced that by 2030 50 percent of the new cars sold in the country should be electrically powered - this includes both pure e-cars as well as hybrids and fuel cell vehicles. The presidential order will enable the USA to "advance the future of the electric car, overtake China and tackle the climate crisis". General Motors, Ford and Stellantis therefore expressed their "joint efforts" to achieve a sales quota of 40 to 50 percent. In a joint statement, the car manufacturers VW, BMW, Honda and Volvo praised the initiative. The large US industry union United Auto Workers (UAW) also welcomed the plans. Its members are "ready to build these electric vehicles and the necessary batteries". The 50 percent target is roughly what US automakers are already aiming for. Even so, it is an ambitious plan for the United States as a whole. According to the International Energy Agency, the share was just 2 percent last year. In Europe it was 10 percent, in Germany, according to the Federal Motor Transport Authority, in July it was almost 24 percent.