Car companies are revving up to ask President-elect Donald Trump to keep President Joe Biden’s tight restrictions and regulations on them going forward.
According to a report from the New York Times, the Biden administration’s actions to boost domestic EV manufacturing may have already set the auto industry past the point of no return. Following Biden’s initiatives, automakers have already invested billions of dollars in transitioning to electric vehicles. If Trump were to scrap the initiative, major automakers fear they could be undercut by smaller manufacturers producing cheaper, internal combustion engine cars.
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Three of the country’s largest automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, are already lobbying Trump against scrapping the rules.
Some had hoped that one of the biggest proponents of electric cars, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, would be able to sway Trump to keep those rules in place, but now, his priorities seem to be cutting regulations. He expressed opposition to the $7,500 tax credit for buyers of electric cars, saying he opposes all subsidies.
“In my view, we should end all government subsidies, including those for E.V.’s, oil and gas,” Musk said last week.
Musk’s calculation was more cynical in a July earnings call, speculating that the end of the subsidy would hurt Tesla somewhat, but hurt its competitors much more.
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“I think it would be devastating for our competitors and for Tesla slightly,” he reportedly said, according to the New York Times. Auto industry experts concurred.
Industry experts fear that Trump scrapping Biden’s EV initiative could be destructive for the auto industry, sowing doubt and confusion among car companies.
“The worst thing of all for the automakers, even worse than a difficult regulation, is a back-and-forth swing every four years,” Auto Intelligence service at S&P Global Mobility analyst Stephanie Brinley told the outlet.
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According to the Center for Automotive Research, major auto manufacturers have invested roughly $146 billion into electric car engineering and manufacturing over the past three years alone. All besides Tesla haven’t yet recouperated their losses.
China has gone all in on its EV industry, threatening to leave the U.S. auto industry in the future. Auto companies are in agreement that EVs are the future, so are vying to keep up with China and similar initiatives in Europe.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
