Hansen, DNREC Secretary concerned about Delaware EV mandate

On Wednesday, state Sen. Stephanie Hansen (D-Middletown) and Greg Patterson, Delaware’s top environmental regulator, discussed their concerns with meeting the mandate during a panel discussion at Spotlight Delaware’s Shifting Sands Environmental Sustainability Summit in Dewey Beach. 

Patterson, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said the landscape for buying electric cars has changed since the mandate was formalized in late 2023. It was established with the understanding that there would be federal support through rebates and infrastructure subsidies to build out a comprehensive charging network, he said. 

“All that is now in question,” he said, referncing President Donald Trump’s past pronouncements that he wants to undo Biden-era subsidies for the electric vehicle industry.

As it exists now, the federal government offers tax credits for up to $7,500 to buyers of certain electric vehicles. Delaware residents can also receive a rebate of up to $2,500 when purchasing or leasing a new or used electric vehicle. 

Asked whether Delaware’s electric vehicle mandate would still be feasible without federal   rebates and subsidies to the industry, Hansen, a former environmental scientist, said she was worried. Still, she said her biggest concern is about tariffs. 

“If the tariffs go up and we can’t account for that, and they’re even more out of reach for the average person, what are we doing?” Hansen said. 

The cost of electric vehicles is expected to rise after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs on a wide range of products and raw materials. The auto industry, even within the United States, depends on global supply chains for materials, parts, and vehicle assembly.

In December 2023, then-Secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources Shawn Garvin issued an order that implemented a mandated that 43% of new cars and light trucks sold at dealerships in the state must be electric or plug-in hybrids by 2027. 

At the time, similar versions of the mandate to phase out the sale of gas vehicles had been adopted by more than a dozen states, according to the News Journal.

By 2032, the mandated portion of electric and hybrid car sales was to increase to 82%. 

In his 2023 order, Garvin said the transportation sector accounted for the largest emissions polluter in Delaware. Those pollutants included particulates, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and greenhouse gas.

“Vehicle emissions contribute 30% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to other sectors such as industrial, residential/commercial, and electric power,” Garvin said. 

In the year and a half since the mandate, the electricity market has grown volatile in Delaware,  and uncharacteristically high power bills recently sparked consumer outrage across much of the state.

In January, one of Trump’s first executive actions was to revoke former President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle target for 2030. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also said it’s reconsidering a Biden-Harris electric vehicle plan.