President Donald Trump ordered his administration to consider eliminating subsidies and other policies that favour electric vehicles (EVs), laying the groundwork for moves that risk slowing adoption of cleaner cars in the US.

The directive, included in a broad energy-focused executive order, contends that aid for EVs and other “ill-conceived government-imposed market distortions” effectively mandate their purchase. While the US lacks a hard-and-fast EV mandate at the federal level, recently imposed limits on vehicle tailpipe pollution compel carmakers to sell more electric models.

Trump stopped short of explicitly directing the Environmental Protection Agency to review or rewrite those rules, or for the Transportation Department to rework fuel-economy regulations that also were toughened under President Joe Biden.

The order does, however, specifically call for terminating waivers that allow states to limit gas-powered car sales, indicating that Trump will look to take on California again on those grounds. The state requires automakers to deliver increasing number of zero-emission vehicles every year through 2035, when all new cars sold will need to be zero-emission.

Trump also directed agencies to pause disbursement of funds appropriated through two laws Biden signed — the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — including funding for EV charging stations. The infrastructure law allocated US$7.5 billion (RM33.71 billion) to building out a network of public plugs across the country.

While Trump was president-elect, advisers recommended that he repeal federal policies that boost consumer demand for EVs, including the US$7,500 federal tax credit for plug-in car purchasers, while still fostering a domestic supply chain to produce clean vehicles.

While it would take an act of Congress to fully rescind the consumer rebate, Trump has authority to expand limits on which companies are eligible to receive the rebates, and make other tweaks. A legally enduring rule could take months to complete.