How Biden's EV policies could be axed under a Trump presidency
Former President Donald Trump aimed his criticism at Biden's EV policies during a Monday morning CNBC appearance. Trump remarked that it may not be the right time to transition to EVs and that "alternatives" should be made available.
Yahoo Finance Reporter Pras Subramanian joins the Live show to discuss Trump's possible moves as president, such as defunding the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) EV tax credit, and how the auto market could respond.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
BRIAN SOZZI: President Biden's EV policies may be on the chopping block if former President Donald Trump wins another term in November's election. Yahoo Finance's senior reporter Pras Subramanian has the analysis for you on this one, Pras.
PRAS SUBRMANIAN: Hey, Brian. So yeah, so Trump this morning was on CNBC, talking about EVs among other things and said, you can't just go to electric, among other things, talking about how he's for electric cars, but he thinks that the time is not right. We need other alternatives. He complained about-- they don't go as far, they cost too much, all made in China. Whether these things are true or not is one thing, but a lot to unpack here. He also complained about the grid, saying that it's obsolete and a disaster and his type of hyperbole there.
But complaints about the grid and also charging are not new, right? That's something that people have been talking about. The big question is, what might he do about this. And he might try to defund the IRA tax credit as part of the infrastructure reduction-- I'm sorry, the Inflation Reduction Act. And then there's the bipartisan Infrastructure Act that funds the charging network. So those are the two big things that he could actually try to roll back if he wins the election in November.
JULIE HYMAN: Well, reportedly, he is trying to court Elon Musk as a potential supporter, donor, endorser. Would Musk be happy if he got rid of all that stuff?
PRAS SUBRMANIAN: Well, yeah, I mean, he-- they asked him about Musk. And they-- supposedly, they met over the weekend. Trump confirmed this. And he said, that I've been friendly with him over the years. I've helped him when I was president. I've liked him. The question is, is he going to now then turn back these policies that are so beneficial to Musk and Tesla if, in the fact, that Musk does support him financially for this run this year. Hard to say. But I mean, he did say that we do have opposing views on the minor subject of electric cars. Clearly, they do. I can only imagine, if Musk does support him--
JULIE HYMAN: A minor subject? The thing that the other guy-- that's his whole job.
PRAS SUBRMANIAN: Direct quote, yeah. I can only imagine if he does support him or does support-- if Musk does support Trump, I have to imagine there'll be some give and take there with EVs.
BRIAN SOZZI: Pras, really zoom out. And this year is shaping up to be the return of the hybrid. I looked at what Dodge just came out a couple of days ago, gas-powered Charger but also an electric one. I think that gives a glimpse of where a lot of carmakers are looking right now.
PRAS SUBRMANIAN: Yeah, I spoke to Stellantis' CEO Carlos Tavares a while ago, about a month ago, on a-- like a roundtable discussion. He talked about how they want to make these multiplatform-energy type vehicles, where they can actually have two vehicles that have one gas-powered powertrain, one EV powertrain because that's where they want to be in the future. They don't know who's going to win in November. Depending on who does, they can kind of pivot based on what kind of policy standpoint is going to be in place there after the election. So yeah, definitely, the automakers are looking at that.
JULIE HYMAN: Well, and consumer tastes have been changing too. So that way, they're ready for whatever happens on that front. Interesting.
BRIAN SOZZI: Pras Subramanian, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
