Biden spending plan includes $100B for electric vehicle rebates
Could put GM and Tesla back in the game
President Biden's sweeping $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan includes $100 billion in electric vehicle rebates, according to the Department of Transportation.
In a letter sent to congressional staff, the agency noted that of the $174 billion earmarked for electric vehicle initiatives, $15 billion would go toward charging stations and $100 billion toward unspecified consumer "grants," Reuters reported.
The current electric vehicle incentive system allows each automaker to sell 200,000 plug-in vehicles -- either hybrid or all-electric -- and offer a tax credit of up to $7,500 for each, depending on the size of the battery. After the threshold has been reached, the credit drops to half for the next two quarters then half again for the following two quarters before phasing out completely.
Tesla and General Motors have both exhausted their allotments, while Nissan, Toyota and Ford are estimated to be next on the list.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GM | GENERAL MOTORS CO. | 55.59 | +0.09 | +0.16% |
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 345.16 | +12.27 | +3.69% |
| F | FORD MOTOR CO. | 11.13 | +0.03 | +0.27% |
| TM | TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. | 170.63 | +0.91 | +0.54% |
| NSANF | NISSAN MOTOR CO. LTD. | 2.51 | +0.01 | +0.40% |
The White House would not comment on the specifics of the incentive, but the GREEN Act recently introduced in the House of Representatives calls for increasing the sales cap to 600,000 vehicles per automaker, with a credit reduction to $7,000 after the first 200,000 sales.
If adopted, the GREEN Act proposal would equate to a subsidy of at least $4.3 billion for each automaker's electric vehicle sales.
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Michigan Democrats Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Dan Kildee told Reuters they are working on a bill that would design the credit to favor lower-cost electric vehicles and possibly add one for used vehicle purchases.
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In March, GM President Mark Reuss wrote in a LinkedIn post on the company's push to go all-electric by 2035 that "consumer incentives, including a modification to the EV tax credit so that customers of first movers like GM are not penalized, and also one that makes used EV buyers eligible."
Stabenow spoke at a GM event on Tuesday announcing additional electric vehicle production in Michigan and proclaimed "it's not if, it's when" a new incentive program would pass.