Friday, March 29

Inflation Reduction Act EV tax credits could hurt sales


Tesla cars charge next to a traditional Texaco gas station on July 17, 2022 in Nephi, Utah. With more electric cars on the road, lack of charging infrastructure is becoming more of a problem for EV owners.

George Frey | Getty Images

Proposed tax credits of up to $7,500 for electric vehicles under the Inflation Reduction Act could be counterintuitive for sales of EVs, according to several companies and a group representing major automakers such as General Motors, Toyota Motor and Ford Motor.

The new rules would raise a sales threshold for qualification, but would impose materials sourcing and pricing stipulations, along with personal income caps.

The federal government has used EV tax credits as a tool to promote the adoption of electric vehicles and lower the US automotive industry’s reliance on fossil fuels. Electric vehicles are currently far pricier than their gasoline counterparts due to the expensive batteries needed to power the vehicles.

Automakers have relied on the credits to assist in lowering the prices on the vehicles for consumers, as costs of lithium and cobalt needed for the batteries have soared.

Opponents of the new guidelines argue that pricing and sourcing rules, specifically for crucial raw materials used for the batteries of the vehicles, are too aggressive and could result in most EVs falling out of qualification for the federal incentive, at least in the short-term . And unlike under current criteria, vehicles would have to be produced in North America to qualify for the credits.

Supporters of the new rules say they will wean the auto industry off its reliance on foreign countries, specifically China, and encourage domestic production of electric vehicles and batteries – a goal of the Biden administration.

The Democrat-spearheaded $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act was passed by the US Senate on Sunday. It’s expected to be passed Friday by the US House, before heading to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

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‘Jeopardize our collective target’

Workers inspect a Rivian R1T electric vehicle (EV) pickup truck on the assembly line at the company’s manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois, US., on Monday, April 11, 2022.

Jamie Kelter-Davis | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Bozzella told CNBC that he supports the long-term goals of the bill but argues the industry needs more time to make production plans and secure domestic materials for their vehicles. The current supply chain can’t support all the EVs that companies want to produce in the coming years, he said.

“It’s not going to happen overnight,” he said. “We need to work with our partners and public officials to figure out what’s going to work best for the consumer.”

Bozzella said the new standards “will also jeopardize our collective target of 40-50% electric vehicle sales by 2030” – a goal announced last year by the Biden administration. He said the Washington, DC-based trade association and lobby group will continue to push to reform the credit system if the bill is signed into law.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who spearheaded the materials sourcing requirements included in the bill, has not been open to changing the rules.

“Tell (automakers) to get aggressive and make sure that we’re extracting in North America, we’re processing in North America and we put a line on China,” Manchin told reporters last week. “I don’t believe that we should be building a transportation mode on the backs of foreign supply chains. I’m not going to do it.”

Sen. Joe Manchin, DW. Va., speaks to the cameras about the reconciliation bill in the Hart Senate Office Building on Monday, August 1, 2022.

Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Martin French, a longtime supplier executive and managing director at Berylls Strategy Advisors USA, believes the new requirements could be a long-term benefit for the US auto industry. But he said there could be growing pains along the way.

“I think there’s a little bit of negativity now, but if you look at what the (automakers) are promising, if they execute on their commitment, I see no reason why the domestically produced products should not benefit, and the consumer should not benefit ,” French told CNBC.

Automakers concerned

2024 Chevrolet Blazer SS EV

GM

Tesla did not respond for comment. GM declined to speculate what, if any, of its current vehicles would qualify for credits under the bill. The Detroit automaker said the bill “aligns very well with GM’s long-term plans,” but some of the requirements would be challenging in the short-term.

“While some of the provisions are challenging and cannot be achieved overnight, we are confident we can rise to the challenge because of the domestic manufacturing investments we are making to secure a supply chain for batteries and critical minerals,” GM said in an emailed statement .

Vehicles from other EV startups such as Lucid’s pricey Air sedan and Fisker’s forthcoming Ocean, which is set to be imported from Austria, automatically wouldn’t qualify for the new credits.

The bill from Manchin and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer would also create a new $4,000 tax credit, or 30% of the sale price of the vehicle — whichever is lower — but only if the purchaser buys a car from a dealership.

French said it’s going to be up to each company to determine how important they believe the credit will be to their sales of EVs in North America.

“At the end of the day, it’s a business case on how much market share they feel they’ll use, but I think it will definitely raise the eyebrows,” he said. “If there have been some considerations to localize production, I think that this is going to stir the discussions and the emotions a bit more.”


www.cnbc.com

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