- President Trump’s transition team is reportedly eyeing several different ways to cut support for electric vehicles.
- Their plan calls for eliminating the $7,500 federal tax credit, clawing back funding for charging stations, and axing federal purchasing requirements.
- The Trump administration could also rollback fuel economy and emission standards to 2019 levels.
President Trump is slated to return to the White House next month and new details are starting to emerge about his plan to cut support for electric vehicles. This will reportedly be a multipronged attack as the incoming administration is reportedly aiming to eliminate the $7,500 federal tax credit as well as funding for improving America’s charging infrastructure.
According to a document seen by Reuters, Trump’s transition team is also recommending imposing tariffs on battery materials. The goal is to increase U.S. production, although the administration is expected to negotiate “individual exemptions with allies.”
More: Trump Reportedly Wants To Kill $7,500 EV Tax Credit And Tesla Might Be Cool With It
The Trump administration is also expected to redirect funds designed to support electric vehicle adoption. Specifics are murky, but the money could flow towards other electrification efforts focused on “national defense supply chain and critical infrastructure.” This effort seeks to boost U.S. production of batteries and the critical materials used to make them.
Speaking of national defense, the document reportedly mentioned ending Department of Defense efforts to acquire electric military vehicles. There’s also a wider push that would reverse a Biden administration requirement that federal agencies buy zero-emission vehicles.
Besides eroding federal support for EVs, the transition team is reportedly recommending a plan to rollback fuel economy and emission standards to 2019 levels. Reuters said this would allow for “an average of about 25% more emissions per vehicle mile than the current 2025 limits and average fuel economy to be about 15% lower.” Unsurprisingly, the incoming administration also wants to neutralize California’s emissions wavier.
These would be drastic changes, but they’re simply proposals at this point. Some of them sound easier to enact than others, but only time will tell how everything pans out.
It’s also worth noting the Biden administration is in a mad dash to get money out the door before Trump takes office. Earlier today, the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office announced Ford’s BlueOval SK is getting a loan of up to $9.63 billion to build three battery plants – one in Tennessee and two in Kentucky – that will have the capacity to build more than 120 gigawatt hours of batteries annually.
This follows last week’s announcement that the Loan Programs Office had finalized a $1.25 billion loan guarantee to EVgo. It aims to support the deployment of approximately 7,500 chargers at roughly 1,100 stations across the United States.
