White House Met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Other Automakers to Discuss EVs

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an order saying the government will only purchase electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035, and more recently, his administration held a meeting to discuss EVs and charging.

The Biden administration held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss EVs and charging infrastructure with a number of major automaker heads including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and General Motors (GM) CEO Mary Barra, according to Reuters.

After the meeting, the Biden administration said, “there was broad consensus that charging stations and vehicles need to be interoperable and provide a seamless user experience, no matter what car you drive or where you charge your EV.”

Last year, Congress approved $7.5 billion in funding to build EV charging stations, but laws incentivizing the purchase of new EVs have largely stalled.

Just last week, a number of automakers came together to support stricter vehicle emissions standards, following a court challenge lodged by ethanol groups and a few states.

Other government officials in attendance included Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu.

Other noteworthy automaker executives at the meeting included President and CEO of Hyundai Joe Munoz Barcelo; CEO of Subaru Thomas J. Doll; President and CEO of Ford Jim Farley; President and CEO of Mazda Jeffery Guyuton; President and CEO of Toyota North America Tetusuo “Ted” Ogawa; Chairperson at Nissan Jérémie Papin; Mercedes-Benz CEO Dmitris Psillakis; Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson; Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares; and President and CEO of Kia SeungKyu “Sean” Yoon, as noted by @AudreyLaForest.