Trump strips off the training wheels of Georgia’s EV industry and is forced to ride his own bike and builds it.
Global EV competition is being charged as Ford drops new low-cost entries
Ford has announced a new EV pickup truck that will roll out from 2027 at a starting price of $30,000.
Straight Arrow News
- One big beautiful bill law ends the federal tax credits for electric vehicles and related battery manufacturing, affecting the growing EV market.
- The removal of bill’s incentives is expected to slow the growth of EV sales and increase manufacturers’ discounts and reliance on trades.
- Building a domestic battery supply chain and expanding the charging infrastructure are key challenges for the future of the EV industry.
“He knows he’ll give me a discount,” said President Donald Trump’s moment before purchasing a $80,000 Red Tesla from Elon Musk on the White House lawn on March 11th. “But I want to pay in full.”
And the entire price he ordered is something everyone pays. Trump’s one big beautiful bill law enacted on July 4th will end the federal tax credits for electric vehicles (EVs) and the 2030 tax credits for American battery manufacturers by the end of September.
According to the research group’s Atlas Public Policy, more clean energy projects were cancelled in the first quarter of 2025 than in the past two years. Since January, these cancellations and small projects have reached about $14 billion in abandoned investments, including a $1 billion factory planned to produce thermal barriers for batteries in Stateboro, Georgia.
Industry leaders are reluctant to show signs of defeat when it comes to what these set-offs mean for states that have deployed billions of dollars worth of red carpets in tax cuts at EV manufacturing plants, aimed at becoming the “electric vehicle capital” estimated by the end of the second term, as Brian Kemp.
This month, Georgia’s EV press conference and roadshows found civil servants and manufacturers aside the Washington set-off and boasted the growth of the industry.
“The tax credit served its purpose, but it may have ended,” Georgia Public Services Commissioner Tim Echoles said in an interview. “We may not need subsidies in the future.”
However, Georgia’s EV independence will depend on the success of bringing moving parts closer to the home.
“We must develop a critical mineral supply chain in America,” said Skye Golann, nonprofit electrification coalition policy manager, in the way EV Investments is driving Georgia’s prosperity.
One big beautiful bill law expected to slow EV growth
The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in August 2022, provided tax credits, subsidies and incentives for the purchase and manufacture of EVs and their charging facilities.
Since then, a 2024 report from the Rhodium Group and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has grown at least three times more investments in batteries, fuel supply and critical mineral refining and processing.
Many of Georgia’s plants are supported by federal aid. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Energy granted $178 million for the construction of Solvay Specialty Polymers battery-grade polyfluoride facility in Augusta. Last year, DOE awarded Fort Valley-based Blue Bird $80 million for the production of electrical school buses and workforce development.
And it appears that Georgia played the right hand.
“The past few years will be “there’s the arrival of “EV purchases” in the US,” said Cox Automotive Director of Industry Insights Stephanie Streaty. Last year was “a record year of 1.3 million eV,” she added.
EVS says EVS is cheaper than ever. Hosted at Savanna Technical College on August 12, the Georgia Clean Energy Roadshow featured more than 60 vehicles, including one of Savanna’s Nissan Leafs, starting at around $30,000. When Echols first launched its roadshow 15 years ago, only the Tesla Roadster was on display, but at the time it was worth over $100,000.
But one big beautiful bill law removes incentives that have lowered EV prices already too high for many consumers. According to Cox Automotive Data, average EV transactions were $10,000 more this year than gas vehicles.
“The biggest barrier is still price,” Streaty said.
Before one big beautiful bill law was passed, Cox Automotive predicted that the EVS would account for 10% of all cars sold in 2025, up 2% from last year. But now, “You have tariffs, you have interest rates, you have all these headwinds, you have adjusted that to 8.5%,” Streaty says.
“If we take away the federal tax credit, we’ll attenuate some of the growth,” Golann said in an interview. “I certainly think one big beautiful bill law is a setback for EVs.”
Battery boom…or bust
But the biggest bet for EV stakeholders is probably the battery itself.
Lithium-ion batteries are notoriously expensive to mine, process and transport, and can account for 40% of the cost of a car, Streaty said. China still controls the mineral processing of batteries, Golan admitted in an interview. But “We’ve seen new mines, whether in North Carolina or Nevada… What we want to see is developing those supply chains in the US,” according to the World Economic Forum, where only 1% of the world’s lithium reserves live.
General Motors has already begun building American businesses, including Georgia. On August 6th, GM announced plans to jointly manufacture six EV models with Hyundai, including electric vans for the North American market. A day later, a Chinese battery that “acts as a stop” can now “act as a stop,” according to Detroit Free Press, part of the USA Today Network.
Approximately half of KIA’s EV and gas vehicle production remains overseas, said Ted Arnold, Corporate Services and Information Technology, Kia’s division. However, Kia’s parent company Hyundai is in the process of “bringing these suppliers locally so they don’t have to import them,” he added.
“We’re definitely going to see a battery supply chain starting to be built in the US,” Streaty repeated.
But time is inscribed before one big beautiful bill law ends a 45x tax credit for US battery manufacturers in five years. This is a move to transfer growth to other countries, including China, Mexico, Canada and members of the European Union, according to think tank Energy Innovation.
And many of Georgia’s battery manufacturing outlook have already abandoned the ship earlier this year.
In January, Norway-based Freyer Battery was called from a battery manufacturing plant in Newnan and said in a letter to Coweta County. In February, Aspen Arogels told investors it would halt construction of a second plant-making heat barrier for Stateboro’s EV batteries and instead increase production in China, Latitichuch Media reported. In March, Josemónhos, president of Metaplant America of Hyundai Motor Group, announced an expansion focused on hybrid vehicles with spectacular openings. This is a shift from the expected all-electric work.
This year may be the start of a bad run, but many EV supporters like Streaty are still all-in and are hoping to take advantage of the tax credit before the manufacturer ends.
“IRA 45X Reduction Credit will not be sunset until 2030, so I think it’s a faint light of light,” Streaty says.
Manufacturers respond to Trump’s actions… Their own contract art
If EV makers plant more solid manufacturing in American soil, the roads will be longer.
Golann said that growth in supply chains across the country and state will “take some time.” And in the meantime, the manufacturers themselves will have to push forward their own transactions to make up for today’s price differences. Trump can smell EV discounts, but the average consumer may depend on it.
“Now that we don’t have an IRA, the dealers are really aggressive,” Streaty said. Expect more rebates, trades and discounts. The manufacturers “have already spent money on building assembly lines and factories,” Echoles said.
But at one point, the EV “must be able to sell it yourself,” Streaty said.
Gillian Magtoto covers climate change and the environment along Georgia. You can contact her at jmagtoto@gannett.com.
