Senator Merkley (D) introduced the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act of 2020, co-sponsored in the House by Representative Mark Levin. Climate change is the alleged reason for the legislation.
The House Bill, H.R.2764, would have a schedule for the required number of electric vehicles (EVs) to be sold until 2040, with the sale of ICEs prohibited after 2040, rather than 2035.
There are 253 million light vehicles, cars and light trucks, on the road in the United States. In a normal year, about 17 million automobiles are sold annually. To replace all 253 million ICE's on the road today would require a lot more than the 250.000 electric vehicles (EVs) sold in 2019.
Lets assume we want 100 percent of vehicle sales in 2035 to be EVs. Let's assume 17 million vehicles are sold each year. Most light ICE vehicles are scrapped after about 12 years. So If 17 million BEVs are sold every year after 2035, there will be few ICEs keft on the roads by 2050, except for heavy and medium duty trucks,
How much will EV sales have to increase each year to reach 100 percentof sales in 2035? The answer is about 30 percent annual growth, starting from the 250,000 sold in 2019.
How much more electricity will be required to recharge the batteries of 253,000,000 EVs? "Electricity: includes additional transmission and distribution capacity.
No one knows.
Will the demand for lithium and cobalt for batteries exceed the global supply?
No one knows.
What are the environmental damage and child labor costs of mining these minerals and later disposing of used batteries?
No one knows.