Trump’s transition team plans to end EV tax credit of previous regime

As part of larger tax reform legislation, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team intends to eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle sales, citing sources Reuters reported. 

Concluding the tax credit would have serious repercussions for the US EV transition, which is already stagnating. Moreover, the representatives of Tesla, by far the largest EV manufacturer in the country, told a Trump transition group that they support removing the subsidies, the report added.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and one of Trump's most ardent supporters, stated in July that while eliminating the subsidy would have a minor negative impact on Tesla's sales, it would be "devastating" for its US EV rivals like established automakers General Motors.

Reuters further reported that an energy-policy transition team headed by Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and billionaire oilman Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, is meeting to discuss ending of the subsidy, a measure taken by the Democratic President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Following Trump’s victory in the recent US elections, the group has reported to meet many times in venues like Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago club, known to be a frequently visited place by Musk. 

However, representatives of Tesla, GM, Stellantis and Ford have rejected to comment on the matter, the report read. 

In a letter dated October 15, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation requested Congress to keep the EV tax credits in place, stating that they are "essential to securing the United States as a global leader" in auto production going forward.

Although the Trump transition team has not commented on the future of the EV tax credit, it has said that the president will fulfil the “promises he made on the campaign trail.”