The Race to Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Over the past decade, electric vehicles have been growing in popularity. The number of electric vehicles on the roads increased from a few thousand in 2010 to more than 10 million in 2020.1 Electric vehicles have already become a major element of modern transportation and may even replace traditional internal combustion engine vehicles before we know it.2 As a rising industry, electric vehicles manufacturing has been subject to national policy in many countries around the world. China and the United States are among those countries, where state involvement has had significant implications on the EVs industry.3 The aim of this thesis is to comparatively analyze the impacts of national policy in the United States and China on the respective performances of the electric vehicles industry. This thesis looks closely at the national policy shift that occurred in the United States when President Donald. J Trump was elected. This focus on the policy transition after the election of Trump is relevant, given his drastic diversion from his predecessor’s approach on energy matters, including electric vehicles. At a time when China was heavily supporting its electric vehicles sector,4 the Trump administration was rolling back key national policy without providing any alternatives.5