During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump declared his intention to completely reverse Biden’s electric vehicle (EV) policies. Trump criticized the current administration’s rush towards battery-powered cars, describing the mandate as “crazy.”
Major U.S. automakers, including Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, have asked Trump to reverse gear on this promise. As a reminder, Biden’s Green New Deal commitments included senseless emissions regulations and the $7,500 EV tax credit, which has totally distorted the automotive market.
The conversation would require diplomatic finesse. Mr. Trump has railed against the E.V. rules, which strictly limit the amount of tailpipe pollution while also ramping up fuel economy standards. They are designed to get carmakers to produce more E.V.s and have been a cornerstone of President Biden’s fight against climate change.Mr. Trump sees them differently. He has falsely said the rules amount to a Democratic mandate that would prevent Americans from buying the gasoline-powered cars of their choice — a concern of his campaign donors from the oil industry.And Mr. Trump still holds grievances against some of the automakers, whom he views as having betrayed him because during his first term they supported Obama-era auto emissions rules.In fact, most automakers don’t love the more stringent rules Mr. Biden put in place. But they have already invested billions in a transition to electric vehicles, and fear that if Mr. Trump made an abrupt change as he has promised, they could be undercut by automakers who sell cheaper, gas-powered cars. They argue it would harm an industry that is a backbone of American manufacturing and employs 1.1 million people.
Perhaps I would have more sympathy for the automakers if they had vigorously countered the climate crisis pseudoscience and spent some advertising dollars educating the public on the realities of carbon dioxide and climate science. However, they thought there would be a sweet compromise position and decided to enjoy the financial incentives to roll over spinelessly.
Live by the mandate, die by the mandate.
These companies can now have their tax lawyers find ways to write off their losses.
Their pleas are not receiving any sympathy from many other Americans either.
While carmakers may experience some short-term pain, there will be long-term gain. EVs have been an anchor dragging down the profitability of automotive companies.
“Losing $70,000 on an EV is not a winning business model and U.S. automakers know that,” said Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association. Stewart said axing the EV tax credit gives members of the auto industry the opportunity to shift back to traditional production lines.”If I was a CEO, I would quietly be relieved to have a reason to shift production lines back to traditional models and invest in new hybrid technologies,” Stewart told Fox News Digital. “The EV tax credit was the only way to entice consumers to ‘maybe’ purchase something they really didn’t want, but told by the Biden folks they had to buy.””With the tax credit gone and the onerous Biden regulatory mandates lifted, the new administration is providing the exit ramp the U.S. producers were really hoping for, and U.S. consumers really want.”
As I noted earlier this year, a study shows that almost 50% of Americans who own an EV have buyer’s remorse and want to switch back to vehicles with traditional internal combustion engines. Trump’s reversal will begin correcting the market distortions that are an inherent part of Bidenomics’ failures.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY