Delaware Gov. Meyer says he will eliminate state’s ‘electric vehicle mandate’

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Former Gov. John Carney worked for nearly two years to mandate that Delaware car dealerships have an increasing number of new electric vehicles on their lots.

After several contentious public meetings and thousands of written comments, the vast majority opposing the mandate, the Carney administration adopted the controversial regulation in November 2023.

Starting with the 2027 model year, 43% of all new cars, SUVs and light trucks delivered to Delaware dealerships must be either fully electric or plug-in hybrid electric, the regulation stipulates. That percentage will ramp up to 82% for the 2032 model year.

Carney, who had originally sought to have 100% of new vehicles delivered to Delaware be electric by 2035, crowed about the benefits to the environment when the compromise rule was adopted.

“Over the next decade, Delaware will transition to a clean energy future to reduce pollution and take on climate change,” Carney said then. “Addressing transportation emissions is a critical part of that effort.”

Carney’s quest now appears to have been for naught.

New Gov. Matt Meyer, barely three months into his four-year term, told WHYY News this week he intends to scrap the rule.

“I’m not a strong believer in government mandates on consumers,” Meyer said during an interview. “The mechanism we take has yet to be determined, but I’m assuring Delawareans that the electric vehicle mandate will not go into effect.”

Meyer said he is a fan of zero-emission vehicles and noted that during his eight years as New Castle County executive before becoming governor, he oversaw the conversion of nearly half of the county’s fleet of non-police vehicles to electric vehicles.

Meyer said he just wants buyers to decide for themselves.

“I think that each Delaware family, Delawarean, each American should have a choice over what they want to buy and sellers should have a considerable choice on what they want to sell,” the governor said.

Meyer’s plan to reverse the mandate by fellow Democrat Carney comes as more and more Delawareans are buying electric vehicles.

State environmental protection officials recently said in a news release that while transportation constitutes “the state’s largest source of emissions” that harm air quality, electric vehicles made up 12% of new registrations in 2024, compared with 2% in 2020. That growth “is helping to drive the state toward its emission reduction goals,” the state’s release said.

The state is also continuing its program that provides rebates of up to $2,500 to buyers of electric vehicles, which is in addition to the federal rebate of up to $7,500. In 2024, the state paid $3.5 million in rebates to 1,677 vehicle buyers, state officials said.

‘Going to make a weaker Delaware with worse air quality’

Dustyn Thompson, who heads Delaware’s chapter of the Sierra Club, said he’s disappointed by Meyer’s plan to eliminate the mandate.

Thompson predicted the move would both reduce sales of zero-emission vehicles in Delaware and damage air quality. He also said Meyer is assisting Republican President Donald Trump, who pledged during his Jan. 20 inaugural address that he would “revoke the electric vehicle mandate.” A total of 17 states — including New Jersey and Maryland, but not Pennsylvania — have adopted the California zero-emission vehicle standard known as Advanced Clean Cars II.

“It’s going to make a weaker Delaware with worse air quality and it’s going to do Trump’s job for him,” Thompson said. “So fundamentally, we don’t support either of those two things and by process of elimination, we don’t support pulling out of the program.”

Thompson said that since Carney enacted the mandate in November 2023, “we’re seeing far more in-state sales being registered in the state of Delaware than out-of-state sales being registered in the state of Delaware for clean cars. If we pull out, you can expect an exact opposite reaction to the market in Delaware.”

While Meyer didn’t specify how he would seek to terminate the mandate, Thompson speculated that the governor would have to go through the same process Carney did to put it in place: Give notice of his intention, hold public hearings and seek comments from the public before making it official in the Delaware Register of Regulations.

“We’re obviously going to advocate against pulling out of the program entirely, and of course targeting Meyer if that’s the route that we’re going to go through,” Thompson said.

Charlie Burton, president of the I.G. Burton chain of dealerships in Delaware, countered that while he sells EVs and owns one himself, he’s delighted that the governor plans to eliminate the mandate.

“I’m tickled to death,” Burton said. “I like the [electric] car. I’m not against the car. What I don’t want, and I don’t think the public wants, is to be told what stocking levels I have to do and what I have to sell and what they have to buy.

“I think that was the wrong approach to the car because it’s kind of like, ‘This is what your new thing is and you got to buy it.’ Whereas I think, ‘Hey, here’s an option, man. It’s electric, we got gas [vehicles] here, too.’ So I’m glad he’s getting rid of it, but the market’s not going to go away. There’s been too much investment in electric and battery development and all that. But in addition, it’s just a really great car.”

Burton’s Milford dealerships will be holding an event Saturday to showcase EVs and answer questions from prospective buyers.

Meyer’s assertion that the mandate will be stricken also comes after a legislative effort by Republican state Rep. Lyndon Yearick to eliminate it hit a roadblock in the Democrat-dominated state House.

Yearick’s bill was blocked by Democrats in the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee from advancing to the full House for a vote.

Told by WHYY News of Meyer’s remarks about ending the mandate, the Kent County lawmaker said he hopes the governor follows through and doesn’t backtrack.

“I’ll be cautiously optimistic,” Yearick said. “We want what I would view as the most favorable outcome in regard to our consumer’s choice here in Delaware. Hopefully, he does the right thing and strikes it from the regs.”

This story was supported by a statehouse coverage grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.