Joe Biden says electric cars are future of auto industry, and Corvette Stingrays

Presidential candidate Joe Biden – and current polls leader – is pushing his support behind the electric vehicle industry, in a bid to show the American public that there is an exciting and attainable future in the transition to zero emissions transport.

Rather than press home the need to reduce carbon emissions, the former US vice president, who owns an original C2 Corvette Stingray, has focused on the future of the American auto manufacturing industry.

While the US, unlike Australia, still makes cars, Japanese and South Korean brands like Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan together can claim more than 40% of the market according to Statista – a good 10% more than General Motors and Ford combined.

As reported by The Driven, Biden has included bold $2 trillion climate and energy package in his campaign to beat Trump at the upcoming US election, that includes a cash-for-clunker plan to get Americans to make the switch to electric vehicles.

However, a new tweet, posted on Thursday morning (Australian time), seeks to convince the American public that EVs are not just about being eco-friendly – they are very much about being cool.

In it, Biden shares his love of the uber-cool classic C2 Corvette Stingray – but says he believes the future for the American auto industry is in electric vehicles.

“I believe that we can own the 21st century market again by moving to electric vehicles,” he says in the short video that you can see in full below.

He’s keen to drive an electric Corvette, too.

“They tell me, and I’m looking forward if it’s true to driving one, they’re making an electric corvette that can go 200mph,” says Biden – perhaps such as this converted electric C6 Z06 Corvette.

Of course, world-leading electric car maker Tesla is as American as its home state of California, which no doubt is not lost on Biden.

However, it has to date sold a little under 600,000 electric vehicles in the US according to Car Sales Base – a huge achievement for a newcomer to the 120-year-old industry, but still a small amount in comparison to the 17 million vehicles a year sold in the US.

Both Ford and General Motors have plans to move to electric vehicles – such as this Hummer EV that GM teased more details on Wednesday.

But for them to be successful – and to viably stop investing in the manufacture of internal combustion engine vehicles – a winning presidential candidate will go a long way convincing the US public that to own the future of auto, it must go all in on EVs.