Can you guess what the issues are?
A new report from Princeton University highlights a serious threat to America’s clean transportation future — and it could spell bad news for jobs, investments, and EV buyers nationwide.
Researchers at Princeton’s ZERO Lab found that if Inflation Reduction Act tax credits and Environmental Protection Agency clean car standards are repealed, electric vehicle sales could plummet. By 2030, the report estimates EV adoption could fall nearly 40% below current projections.
Without these policies, the share of new EVs sold would shrink from 40% to just 24% by the end of the decade. The fallout wouldn’t stop there — the study also warns that up to 100% of planned EV factory expansions could be canceled, and up to 72% of battery manufacturing capacity could become redundant by 2025.
These aren’t just numbers on a spreadsheet — they represent real jobs and opportunities in communities across the U.S., as well as real, tangible means of driving down air pollution that is bad for human health and slowly but consistently traps more heat in the atmosphere. Not to mention that EVs, while more expensive upfront, save money each year on lower fuel and maintenance costs such as no oil changes.
“This is our best attempt to survey available quantitative forecasts and develop an outlook on US EV sales,” explained the study’s project leader, Jesse D. Jenkins in a statement. “The report is also the only analysis I’m aware of to date that draws the connection to US manufacturing as well.”
Got that? Without massive amounts of government money the business is going to damned near collapse. Really, what will be left will be the few reasonably priced EVs and the expensive ones, because most middle and working class people won’t bother purchasing. There are no subsidies or anything for standard gas and hybrid vehicles, yet, they still sell. If government money goes away for installing home chargers who will bother except rich folks? Remember, it was only a year ago that the majority of EV buyers made between $150K to $300K.
Rolling back these credits could undo that progress and leave communities — many of which are already building factories and training workers — without the clean energy jobs they were promised. And while EVs help reduce harmful pollution that worsens asthma and respiratory illness, pulling back support could make it harder for families to afford these healthier, lower-maintenance vehicles.
Without that government money the industry will barely be able to survive. This is the very definition of Socialism from Political Theory 101.If an industry cannot survive without massive government money than it is not a viable business. ICE cars NEVER needed a tax incentive. ICE car demand grew because the US consumer viewed it as a value product.
Read: Experts Warn There Is A Serious Flaw In The EV Market Forecasts Or Something »