The Republican Assault on EVs Is Almost Complete
The GOP’s efforts to revoke industry subsidies and scrap California’s gas-guzzler ban will sink the competitiveness of US automakers.
Getting out now.
Photographer: Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg
Electric vehicles are built mainly with carrots and sticks. Republicans have now moved to take away both, with a tax bill rescinding EV credits and a Senate maneuver to overturn California’s power to ban gas guzzlers. Together, they deal an enormous blow to a US electric vehicle market that was struggling already — but also to US autos as a whole.
Sales of EVs, including plug-in hybrids, almost quintupled during the first three years of former President Joe Biden’s administration, according to figures from New AutoMotive, a UK-based research firm. That slowed sharply in 2024, however. Despite an EV price war, the choice of models was limited and skewed toward the luxury end, keeping them at a premium to traditional vehicles. Poor public charging and range anxiety persisted as problems. Also, Elon Musk’s decision to push the Cybertruck rather than a cheap new Tesla Inc. model, and join President Donald Trump’s election campaign, dented the brand accounting for half the EV market.