Biden will sign executive order pushing for half of all vehicles electric by 2030 at White House event with Ford and GM executives - but NO Elon Musk

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President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Thursday outlining a goal to have electric and other zero-emissions vehicles make up half of the new cars and trucks sold by 2030, the White House announced.

The order also will replace the more relaxed emission standards under former President Donald Trump with even stricter ones than seen during the Obama administration.

In a show of unity, Biden will be joined at the signing by Ford, GM, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) executives and leaders from the United Auto Workers.

But one prominent auto giant will be missing - Tesla.  

Elon Musk is not on the guest list for Thursday's event. 

'Seems odd that Tesla wasn’t invited,' he wrote on Twitter.

President Joe Biden will be joined by Ford, GM, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler) executives when he signs an executive order encouraging more electric cars to be built but Tesla's Elon Musk was not invited

The administration didn't have an immediate explanation.  

'I'm not sure,' Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNBC Thursday morning when asked about Musk's absence. 'But you're seeing so many leaders in the industry.'

'We're moving toward the future this is all across the market. I don't want there to be a perception that this is a luxury thing,' Buttigieg said of owning an electric car. 

The U.S. is home to Tesla, a world leader in electric cars, but it has been slow to adopt such vehicles - especially when compared with China or Europe. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday indicated it was because Tesla is not unionized.

When asked about Musk's absence, she said the three big auto makers and top officials with the United Auto Workers would be at the event.

And when pressed on if it was because Tesla was not a union shop, Psaki responded: 'These are the three largest employers of the United Auto Workers so I'll let you draw your own conclusion.'

The 50 per cent goal is nonbinding and mostly symbolic, but it sets the expectation for U.S. automakers to begin the transition from building gas-powered vehicles to electric ones. 

It includes battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or fuel cell electric vehicles. Biden will also call for the first-ever national network of electric vehicle charging stations.

'What we're hearing across the board is a consensus about the direction where this industry is going and a coming together around the recognition that this is the moment of truth — not just for climate action, for economic action, as well,' said a senior administration official who briefed reporters on a call. 

The president has already secured the support of the unions. 

'The members of the UAW, current and future, are ready to build these electric cars and trucks and the batteries that go in them,' President Ray Curry said in a statement released through the White House.

'Our members are America's secret weapon in winning this global race.'

And the three big U.S. automakers — GM, Ford and Stellantis — said the agreement reflected their 'commitment to be leaders in the U.S. transition to electric vehicles.'

However, in their joint statement, they also emphasized they needed federal help to make that happen.  

'This represents a dramatic shift from the U.S. market today that can be achieved only with the timely deployment of the full suite of electrification policies committed to by the administration in the Build Back Better Plan,' they said. 

Biden's executive order outlines goal to have electric and other zero-emissions vehicles make up half of the new cars and trucks sold by 2030

The percentage improvements in emissions and fuel economy that Biden's new rules will require were not immediately clear. 

A White House fact sheet indicated the administration will leave the Trump standards for miles per gallon in place until vehicle model year 2024 and for greenhouse gas emissions until model year 2023.  

The strategy is part of Biden's plan to fight climate change. The White House noted the order put the nation on track to meet Biden's goal 'of 50-52 percent net economy-wide greenhouse gas emission reductions below 2005 levels in 2030.'