Senators Are Fighting For EV Makers To Receive Tax Credit Incentive

Electric car makers including Tesla may be getting new incentives for electric vehicles purchases and for the production of EV batteries in the U.S have been declared by Senators Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer.

Manchin and Schumer announced on Wednesday the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which is due to hit the senate floor next week. The climate, tax, and health care bill includes incentives for the production of electric vehicle batteries in the U.S as well as a $4,000 tax credit for EV purchases.

Posting to Twitter, Manchin, said:

“We must be honest about the economic reality America now faces. That’s why I’m proud to support the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which will address record inflation by paying down our national debt, and by lowering energy and healthcare costs.”

https://twitter.com/Sen_JoeManchin/status/1552402537025884161

This may come as a bit of a surprise to some as last month Manchin said that the bonus tax credit was scrapped and he has not supported these tax credits previously. The Senator also pointed out that with the current tax credit structure American EV companies such as General Motors and Tesla are not able to take advantage of them, however, non-American companies are able to. This was because those companies had sold over 200,000 sales.

He said at the time:

“Any foreign vehicle that is an electric vehicle is going to be able to claim a $7,500 credit (under existing law). I don’t think that’s our intent,”

This new incentive comes after many EV companies have been pressuring the U.S Congress to take the cap off, including Ford, Stellantis and Toyota. The new bill will help these companies, as well as encourage U.S based companies to produce more electric vehicle batteries in America, and the source the minerals used for them locally.