EV tax credits in Biden’s Build Back Better Act will help sell more cars than new chargers in infrastructure bill

Published

4 years ago

November 21, 2021

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President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the General Motors Factory ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, in Detroit.

Evan Vucci | AP

DETROIT – Now that President Joe Biden‘s $1 trillion infrastructure bill is law, Democrats are setting their sights on his Build Back Better Act to further advance the administration’s electric vehicle agenda.

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides $7.5 billion to jump start Biden’s goal of having 500,000 EV charges nationwide by 2030. The $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, which is close to a vote in the U.S. House, includes tax incentives of up to $12,500 per vehicle to spur consumer demand in electric vehicles.

“The infrastructure bill the President signed this week is a critical step in investing in our future,” Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said during an event to celebrate GMC Hummer EV production with Biden in Detroit. “Now we’re focused on the next step.”

The event at General Motor’s Factory Zero was largely a parade of Michigan Democrats touting Build Back Better and using the forthcoming Hummer production as a soapbox to tout union-made vehicles.

“This infrastructure law with my Build Back Better plan, we’re going to kickstart new batteries, materials and parts production and recycling, boosting the manufacturing of clean vehicles with new loans and new tax credits,” Biden said during the event. “Creating new purchasing incentives for consumers to buy American-made, union-made clean vehicles like the electric Hummer.”

The $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill is set for a vote in the House on Friday.

Controversial incentives

The proposed EV incentive under Build Back Better includes a current $7,500 tax credit to purchase a plug-in electric vehicle as well as $500 if the vehicle’s battery is made in the U.S. It also includes a controversial $4,500 tax credit if the vehicle is assembled domestically with union labor, which has drawn heavy criticism from non-Detroit automakers whose American workers aren’t organized.

Toyota Motor has called the union-made incentive “blatantly biased” and “wrong.” Tesla CEO Elon Musk also has heavily criticized the incentive and Biden for his support of unions such as the United Auto Workers union that represents plant workers of the Detroit automakers.

The tax credits supporting advanced technologies that generally benefit wealthier Americans has always been controversial, but stipulating that a portion of the $12,500 go to union-made EVs escalated the partisan tension. Biden has been unapologetic about his support of unions.

“We’ve got to focus on what made the nation great. I have no problem with Wall Street bankers and others,” Biden said Wednesday. “But they didn’t build America. The middle-class built America and unions built the middle class.”

Under the bill, individual taxpayers reporting adjusted gross incomes of $250,000 or $500,000 for joint filers to get the new EV tax credit. It also would limit the EV credit to cars priced at no more than $55,000 and trucks and SUVs up to $80,000.

‘More critical bill’

BofA Global Research analyst John Murphy described the infrastructure package as “only modestly supportive” of the auto industry’s move toward EVs. He said the $12,500 in tax credits to buy an EV is more crucial to increase adoption.

“As noted, the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda is the more critical bill determining regulatory support for the electrification revolution in the U.S.,” Murphy wrote in an investor note last week.

U.S. President Joe Biden gestures after driving a Hummer EV during a tour at the General Motors ‘Factory ZERO’ electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan, November 17, 2021.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

Transportation officials last week touted the Build Back Better as a key part of Biden’s plan along with the new infrastructure package to help achieve the president’s EV sales goal. He wants half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 to be electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that include EV batteries and traditional internal combustion engines.

Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delany believes such incentives for EVs could make the total cost of buying a vehicle “more compelling and would broadly benefit” automakers by making their products more affordable to consumers.

‘Ambitious’ goal

The infrastructure package, in the meantime, only covers a portion of the funds needed to build out a truly nationwide charging network.

The $7.5 billion is only about 15% of the $50 billion consulting firm AlixPartners has forecast will be needed to reach Biden’s goal of a nationwide network of 500,000 chargers by 2030.

Building that will take a multitude of public and private sector investments, experts say. They characterize the infrastructure package as a positive step in the right direction.

“It’s not all going to come from government, for sure,” said Mark Wakefield, global co-leader of the automotive and industrial practice at AlixPartners. “It’s presumably going to come more from companies putting utilities, automakers, charging companies, convenience stores, gas stations putting chargers in … The fact there’s any investment in it is a good thing.”

Before Biden signed the infrastructure package, U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg said the 500,000 charger goal remains “ambitious.”

“We stand by our goal. Our goal is to get to 500,000 EV chargers by 2030. That is obviously going to take strong partnerships at the state and local level and with private providers as well,” she told reporters during a call last week. “It’s an ambitious goal, but I think we’re going t have a plan to get there, also working with our partners at the Department of Energy.”

The DOT and DOE have established a joint program office under the infrastructure bill on how to use the funds, according to Christopher Coes, principal deputy assistant secretary in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy.

DOT officials declined to estimate how many EV chargers they plan to install with the $7.5 billion under the infrastructure bill. The devices, based on their speed of charging, can cost $120,00 to $260,000 for Level 3 “fast chargers” to be installed, according to AlixPartners.

“The goals of our program are to figure out how do we build the market? How do ensure that we are investing in places that aren’t the first places private sector investors are going to go to,” he said, citing inner cities, multifamily locations and along interstate highways.

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Podcast: Apple CarPlay in Tesla cars, VW on Superchargers, Toyota electric pickup, and more

Published

1 hour ago

November 14, 2025

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Podcast: Apple CarPlay in Tesla cars, VW on Superchargers, Toyota electric pickup, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Apple CarPlay possibly coming to Tesla cars, VW getting access to Superchargers, a Toyota electric pickup, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:

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Environment

October EV sales slid, but deals and rebates are still in play

Published

1 hour ago

November 14, 2025

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October EV sales slid, but deals and rebates are still in play

October EV sales — 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 at a Tesla Supercharger (Source: Hyundai)

US EV sales declined in October following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit on September 30, and the average transaction price (ATP) edged up, according to initial estimates from Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand. However, there are still deals to be had.

Kelley Blue Book’s initial estimates show that US EV sales fell to 74,835 in October, down 48.9% from September, which was a record month, and 30.3% year-over-year.

Prices also ticked up. The average transaction price (ATP) for a new EV climbed 1.6% month-over-month to $59,125, which is 2.3% higher than a year ago.

Tesla didn’t escape the downturn, but it held up better than the overall EV market. The company’s ATP fell 1.1% from September to $53,526, and its prices are 5.5% lower than they were in October 2024. Sales of the Model 3 and Model Y both declined month-over-month, and overall Tesla sales decreased by 35.3% from September and 23.6% year-over-year, which are smaller declines compared to the broader EV segment.

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Cox Automotive senior analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty said the shift wasn’t surprising:

We expected this shift in the electric vehicle market. With the IRA-backed sales incentives gone, lower-cost EV volume was hit hard, pushing the mix toward more luxury and driving October’s EV ATP to a 2025 high of $59,125 – now $9,359 above the industry average. Affordability has always been the core challenge with EV sales, and this reset only underscores how critical it is to bring more attainable EV options to market.

Electrek’s Take

September was a record-breaking month for both EV deals and sales. Dealers were offering all sorts of sweet incentives to stack with the federal tax credit to move cars off the lot. October’s sales drop was entirely anticipated, like a pounding headache after a big blowout party.

We didn’t know what the post-federal tax credit EV market would look like. As Valdez Streaty rightly states, EVs do have a higher ATP than the industry average. But it turns out that, so far, it’s not all doom and gloom, and the federal tax credit isn’t the only incentive in town.

Every month, I compile great EV lease deals, and for the last few months, some EVs’ monthly lease payments have been cheaper than before the federal tax credit expired. Many states are still offering rebates on EV purchases, and dealers still have really good deals. While cheaper models would definitely be welcome, there are good deals available right now.

And let’s not forget the fact that EVs are much cheaper to drive than gas cars, with or without that tax credit.

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DFW deploys SIX new Striker Volterra Electric ARFF 6×6 fire trucks

Published

2 hours ago

November 14, 2025

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DFW deploys SIX new Striker Volterra Electric ARFF 6x6 fire trucks

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Welcomes Six New Striker Volterra Electric ARFF Vehicles Into Service

The Oshkosh-built Striker Volterra Electric Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighter (ARFF) packs advanced battery technology to deliver ultra-fast emergency response performance no matter how long it needs to be in action — and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport just put six of the awesome 6×6 machines to work!

Oshkosh has been manufacturing ARFF vehicles since it first launched the MB-5 for use by the US Navy back in 1968, and they’ve been pushing the envelope of disaster response performance ever since. The company’s latest ARFF, the Striker Volterra Electric shown here, features a slanted body with front bumper designed for maneuvering through the ditches and rough terrain they might encounter on a damaged runway. It’s also big — but it’s big for a purpose. Because ARFF vehicles don’t have to navigate the confines of city streets, they can be built bigger, carry more water, more rescue equipment, and more personnel than conventional fire trucks.

As the newest members of the DFW Fire-Rescue fleet, these Striker Volterra Electric ARFF vehicles represent a significant step in DFW’s broader plan to replace its legacy fleet with a modern, electrified response system, while also making DFW the largest Striker Volterra Electric ARFF fleet operator in the US.

“Enhancing performance by reducing response times is the key driver of transitioning to these new vehicles,” said Daniel White, DFW Fire-Rescue Chief. “The Striker Volterra vehicles are faster and more agile than our current fleet. Because they are also safe for our firefighters and conscious for the environment, this investment represents a rare win-win-win, delivering operational benefits while ensuring the safety of our responders and the community we serve.”

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The Striker Volterra Electric 6×6 ARFF uses a proprietary Oshkosh electric powertrain and an electro-mechanical infinitely variable transmission (read: CVT) paired to an integrated diesel generator. The setup enables zero-emission electric operation during normal station entry, standby, and low-speed tasks, eliminating firefighter exposure to their ARFF’s diesel exhaust 99% of the time. For sustained high-power demands during active fire suppression, the system seamlessly draws from both the battery and generator, ensuring uninterrupted pumping power and performance without operator intervention.

“Our commitment goes far beyond delivering a vehicle,” said Travis Ownby, sales specialist with Siddons-Martin Emergency Group. “It’s about helping departments like DFW Fire-Rescue lead the way in operational excellence and sustainability. We’re proud to support their mission with the Striker Volterra Electric ARFF vehicles.”

The addition of the Striker Volterra Electric ARFF vehicles also supports DFW’s transition to fluorine-free firefighting foam in line with FAA guidance and the industry’s move away from PFAS-based agents for a more environmentally responsible response capability across the airport.

Electrek’s Take

With the relatively short distances driven and extreme loads involved, airports present a nearly ideal use case for battery-electric vehicles in general, and their immediate off-the-line torque, improved efficiency, and ability to operate much more quietly than diesels (facilitating emergency crews’ communications) could make all the difference in an emergency situation where lives are quite literally on the line.

Plus, as demand for on-road fossil fuels drops, airports and airlines (historically responsible for about 4% Earth’s global warming) are becoming a bigger and bigger slice of a rapidly shrinking pie when it comes to fossil fuel emissions. Or, as OshKosk put it, “As airports continue to prioritize sustainability and operational efficiency, the Striker Volterra electric ARFF stands out as a forward-thinking solution that meets today’s demands while preparing for tomorrow’s challenges.”

It’s a bit pitchy, but I couldn’t agree more.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Oshkosh.

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