But this does not end the EV manufacturing "mandate" he likes to talk about ending.

In the first place because there is no "mandate" – as such. There are federal regulations that can only be complied with by manufacturing devices. The first are federal regs dictating how many miles-per-gallon every vehicle manufacturer's fleet must average. The second are federal regs dictating how much of the gas that does not cause or worsen air pollution – CO2 – may be "emitted." Trump has done nothing to fundamentally challenge let alone rescind either of these regulations or the authority of the federal regulatory apparat – the EPA – to issue these regs.

All he has done is to halt (for now) their advance.

But that will not halt the advance – the manufacturing – of battery powered devices. Understand that the only reason there are so many devices being manufactured right now is because of the existing regs – which have been in force for several years. Put another way, the EVs you see right now are a function of the regs in place in 2020 – the ones Trump says he wants to "get back" to. If they are not pushed back much farther, the devices already being manufactured will continue to be manufactured because manufacturing devices is the only way the manufacturers can comply with the existing regs, which demand their vehicle fleet average 35 MPG (not just 35 on the highway) and that overall "emissions" of CO2 be reduced to a level that cannot be achieved without eliminating engines in some vehicles and downsizing them and shutting them off as often as possible (hybrids) in others.

Each device manufactured helps with both because each device is rated by the government as having an extremely (and fraudulently) high MPG"e" – typically at least 75 MPG"e" – or equivalent – that greatly improved the overall fleet average and because devices "emit" no CO2, at least at the tailpipe – which is all that counts irrespective of whether that makes any difference.

This is how it works – and Trump appears to not understand how it works. If he did understand it, he would not speak of "mandates" bur rather of regulations that effectively mandate the manufacturer of battery powered devices. And then he would challenge the legitimacy as well as efficacy of the regs as such – or at least, make it plain that he does understand them by explaining how they operate as a de facto EV manufacturing mandate to the people, so that they understand.