The Trump administration intends to bring EV tax credits to an end, among other subsidies also on the chopping block.
This all stems from a new restructuring campaign announced last week by General Motors which sees products discontinued, plants unallocated, and employees laid off. In response, the White House said it would be exploring ways to counter the action, with economic adviser Larry Kudlow citing subsidies for electric cars and renewable energy sources as prime targets.
“As a matter of our policy, we want to end all of those subsidies,” said Kudlow, quoted by Reuters. “And by the way, other subsidies that were imposed during the Obama administration, we are ending, whether it’s for renewables and so forth.” There wasn’t a specific timeline given, with 2020 being the earliest available opportunity.
The $2,500-to-$7,500 federal tax credit offered to consumers who buy plug-in hybrid, or pure electric vehicles was a boon to the popularity of GM’s first hybrid, the Chevrolet Volt, and spurred adoption of Bolt EV as consumers deal with the sticker shock associated with alternative propulsion. The EV tax credits are capped by Congress at 200,000 vehicles per manufacturer, and GM is expected to cross that line by the end of this year.
US President Donald Trump was hoping to unilaterally impose punishment on GM in retaliation for the company’s decision, but Kudlow was clear any changes to the EV tax credit program would affect all manufacturers.
“I think legally you just can’t.” Even if the EV tax credit ends, GM will have at least maximized its value in terms of sales. Future GM electric vehicles that come to market would have to be purchased by the consumer at full price.
Of course, the Democrats do take control of the House in January, and the probability that the party goes along with the scheme is extremely low as many have been pushing for additional incentives to rapidly spur consumer adoption. GM, along with Nissan and Tesla have been lobbying Congress in hopes of getting the vehicle cap raised.
Comments
There are a lot more important things to worry about than electric cars. Also GM seems to be discontinuing the VOLT regardless. Color TV sets didn’t need subsidies. GM and Tesla have already taken a chunk of Taxpayer money in the form of subsidies or bailouts. Stop crying and get back to business building and marketing quality “affordable” products. Or aren’t any of your diversified Executives capable of that.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra has a bit of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in her personality as she pushes for higher standards despite the fact that it is impossible for mileage to improve beyond 50 mpg without hybrid assist and like Europe, there is simply no infrastructure to support an all-electric fleet; one has to wonder whether Barra has seen the riots they’re having in France because of the added gas tax caused by the Paris Climate Accord.
Those 50 mpg cars are 40% efficient. We can easily get gas cars like the Malibu to 80 with the right steps.
So…. someone has found a way to break the laws of physics.
Not one bit, you barf almost as much power out of the radiator as you get through the crankshaft, just in the form of heat not twist. Harness that and we start opening new efficiency windows. Right now manufactures are focus on maintaining 40% efficiency across the entire bandwith. Your average engine drops to 30% efficient under high rpm acceleration. Manufactures recently have worked hard with variable compression and valve timeing to maintain that 40% as much as possible. The next big thing will be compression ignition, which is chemically 20% more efficient and intake valve retardation. Toyota has played around with valve retardation and gets 42% efficiency out of their new 2.0. Chevy has one patented that makes get be as hi as 45-50%
A very talented NASCAR mechanic, Smokey Yunick, toyed with an Adiabatic Internal combustion engine two decades ago. If it had any real promise his ideas would have been incorporated into today’s production engines. https://schou.dk/hvce/
That’s okay. Thanks to Mueller this stupid Gov’t is ending itself.
Good. If they want an electric car then pay the full price for it and see how sales for the year play out.
I have nothing against electric cars. They may well be the future and have many advantages now that battery technology is improving. However, past inventions didn’t require the taxpayer to pay direct subsidies for them to be developed. They came to market with hard work and dedicated investors. The television set started as a luxury item and soon the prices came down for the masses. Electric cars should be NO different. But as long as they are marketed supporting a hoax like man made climate change, people will also perceive them as a flash in the pan hoax.
Tell that to your children and grandchildren. Man made climate change is NOT a hoax.
Ted Danson, bartender on TV series Cheers and self proclaimed climate scientist and activist, predicted all the Worlds Oceans would dead in 20 years. That prediction was made in 1986. The Grandchildren of the time must have been horrified. If Man Made Climate change is not a money grabbing hoax, why does the East Anglia Email scandal reveal diploma to grave government grant climate “scientists” colluding to fudge Data when it would not support their desired theory.??? Man Made Climate change IS A HOAX but ill informed people give it legs. Science is empirical not based on “theory”. There is NO empirical evidence supporting Man Made Climate Change.