WASHINGTON, DC — The Biden administration is ripping the bandage off a long-festering sore in America with a new rule Wednesday that could phase out most gas-powered cars in favor of electric and hybrid vehicles.

The new Environmental Protection Agency rule, part of an ambitious plan to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles, comes as sales of electric vehicles, which needed to meet the standards, have fallen short of projections,

The auto industry could meet the goal if 56 percent of new vehicle sales are electric by 2032, along with at least 13 percent plug-in hybrids or other partially electric cars and light trucks, and more fuel-efficient gas-powered vehicles.

U.S. auto dealers sold a record 1.2 million electric vehicles last year, but they represented only 7.6 percent of total car sales, a far cry from the 56 percent target. The reasons vary, from concerns about the vehicles’ range to battery life and replacement costs to an anti-“woke” backlash and 2024 presidential election politics.

“They have become a political football, and that’s a shame,” Ford Motor chief executive Jim Farley recently lamented.

Half of U.S. adults in a Pew Research survey last year said they weren’t likely to consider buying an EV, and 13 percent said they wouldn’t. The share of Americans who said they would be interested in buying an EV was down 4 percentage points from the 2022 survey period.

A Gallup poll last year showed similar results, with only about 12 percent saying they are considering buying one, 43 percent saying they might consider it and 41 percent saying unequivocally they would not buy an electric vehicle.

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