India is considering an EV tariff deal with Tesla, details emerge
According to reporting from the Financial Times, Tesla and India’s long courtship ritual could finally be making real progress. Negotiations appear to be on a path that would make it possible for Tesla to sell its existing cars in the country while it works on plans for a local manufacturing facility.
According to the report, the Indian government is considering sharply reducing its tariffs on imported electric vehicles — among the highest in the world — for a period of five years. Presently, the tariff in India assessed on any foreign EV costing under approximately $40,000 is 70%, with EVs over $40,000 subject to a 100% tariff. That means a brand like Tesla’s cars would cost double their MSRP, a cost that would be passed on to the customer — making them a nonstarter for virtually anyone.
Under the proposed scheme, India would lower the EV tariff to 15% for five years, though it’s unclear if the tariff would be higher or lower depending on vehicle MSRP, or flat across vehicles of all prices. The reporting suggests that Tesla must commit to building a manufacturing facility in the country to be eligible for the tariff reduction. Elon Musk had raised hopes of a deal like this coming to fruition with comments made in passing earlier this year, alongside reporting that Tesla sought to build a factory for a $24,000 vehicle in the country. Today’s news appears to confirm earlier reports on the subject back in May.
This Financial Times report is the first time we’ve had a sense of exactly how a Tesla-India deal would be architected. A senior Indian commerce minister is traveling to San Francisco for the APEC summit this week, and one of FT’s sources suggest this person could meet Elon Musk while there to discuss the deal. Granted, none of this is official — it’s all hearsay, seemingly from sources close to the Indian government.
Notably, FT’s report says the deal offered to Tesla would be open to all carmakers, but it’s unclear what exactly would be required for eligibility under the reduced tariff scheme. Minimum production commitments could conceivably be a component.
Electrek’s take
Given the back-and-forth between Tesla and India over the past few years, it’s tough to take this report with anything but a massive grain of salt. But it’s worth discussing, especially given the comparative reputability of the reporting source here.
India is a country with absolutely tiny EV share — electric cars make up under 2.5% of all auto sales in the country. And of those EVs, the overwhelming majority are cheap sub-$10,000 microcars, the likes of which I could never see Tesla producing. However, India is a truly massive country of over 1.4 billion people with a rapidly rising standard of living, and even a tiny share of a vast market could meaningfully impact Tesla’s global sales.
It’s hard to imagine what charging infrastructure would be like living with a Tesla in India, a country with highly inconsistent infrastructure development and a power grid that can become highly unstable, especially during the hot summer months. But as India continues to develop and modernize, it seems inevitable such difficulties will ease over time.
Whether this tariff deal actually ends up going anywhere is a whole other question. But this is the greatest level of detail we’ve seen for a potential agreement between the Indian government and outside automakers to make EV sales in the country a viable prospect. Tesla’s motivations here are clear: It wishes to begin selling cars in the country before it develops local manufacturing capacity to capitalize on existing demand for EVs. Given difficult economic conditions globally, the Indian government may also be feeling pressure to get high-profile manufacturing commitments at home, and more willing to budge than it has in the past. Until the ink is dry, though, nothing here is certain.
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Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.
Qcells furloughs 1,000 workers
The supply chain delays are hindering the company’s ability to import components to build its solar panels. This has resulted in Qcells’ two factories in Cartersville and Dalton being unable to operate at full capacity for several months.
Qcells spokeswoman Marta Stoepker shared the following statement in an exclusive with Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta:
The company says the furloughed workers, who were notified this afternoon, will retain full benefits and won’t be laid off. However, Qcells will no longer be using staffing agency employees in Georgia “at this time.”
As Qcells introduced new supply chains to support its growing solar panel manufacturing facilities in Georgia, the company was recently forced to scale back production while our shipments into the US were delayed in the customs clearance process.
Although our supply chain operations are beginning to normalize, today we shared with our employees that HR actions must be taken to improve operational efficiency until production capacity returns to normal levels.
Stoepker said it expects to bring the furloughed workers back “in the coming weeks and months.” She continued:
Our commitment to building the entire solar supply chain in the United States remains. We will soon be back on track with the full force of our Georgia team delivering American-made energy to communities around the country.
Electrek’s Take
In January 2023, the Seoul-headquartered Qcells announced it would invest more than $2.5 billion to build a solar supply chain in Georgia – the largest-ever investment in clean energy manufacturing in the US to date. That included expanding the Dalton solar factory and building a fully integrated solar supply chain factory in Cartersville, Georgia, that will manufacture solar ingots, wafers, cells, and finished panels.
It’s not quite there yet, because that takes time. In the meantime, it’s being penalized by Customs. The US government under Trump says it’s keen on boosting domestic manufacturing. Why would it work against a company that’s onshoring an entire solar supply chain, including recycling?
Dalton and Cartersville employ nearly 4,000 people. Its total output will reach 8.4 GW of solar production capacity per year, which is equivalent to nearly 46,000 panels per day – enough to power approximately 1.3 million homes annually.
It’s ludicrous that it has been forced to furlough a quarter of its workforce due to the ineptness of the Trump administration’s US Customs policies. This is right up there with the ICE arrests at Hyundai’s plant in Georgia. Bravo.
Read more: Georgia gives US solar panel manufacturing a big boost with a new factory
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The breakthrough EV batteries Toyota says will double driving range and cut charging times are facing another setback. The company is once again delaying plans for a new battery plant in Japan.
Why is Toyota delaying its EV battery plant this time?
Earlier this year, Toyota bought a 280,000-square-meter plot of land in Fukuoka, Japan, where it planned to build a plant to produce the more advanced EV batteries.
A location agreement was expected to be signed by April, but Toyota pushed back construction by several months, blaming slower-than-expected demand for electric vehicles.
The agreement was expected to be finalized this Fall, but that will no longer be the case. According to Nikkei, Toyota is delaying the EV battery plant for the second time. Toyota will review and adjust plans over the next year.
Fukuoka governor, Seitaro Hattori, confirmed the news with reporters on Friday following a meeting with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato. Hattori also shut down claims that Toyota was planning to scrap the battery plant altogether.
Toyota again blamed slowing EV demand for the delay. The decision comes despite Keiji Kaita, president of Toyota’s Carbon Neutral Advanced Engineering Development Center, confirming at the Japan Mobility Show just last week that it’s “sticking on the schedule” to introduce its first solid-state battery-powered EV by 2028.
Last month, Toyota said it aimed to “achieve the world’s first practical use of all-solid-state batteries in BEVs” after securing a partnership with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. to mass-produce them. It’s also working with Japanese oil giant Idemitsu.
The company recently revealed a solid-state battery pack prototype that it claims can deliver 747 miles (1,200 km) range and 10-minute fast charging, but will we ever see it actually in production?
Electrek’s Take
Toyota has been making empty promises about EV batteries for almost a decade now. It initially planned to introduce solid-state EV batteries in 2020, then pushed it to 2023, then 2026, and now it’s saying it will be around 2028.
Mass production is likely closer to the end of the decade, if Toyota doesn’t delay it again. While it’s blaming the slowing demand, global EV sales are still on the rise. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales topped 2 million for the first time in a single month in September 2025. Through the first nine months of the year, EV sales are up 26% compared to the same period in 2024.
Even with the US ending the $7,500 federal tax credit and other policies designed to promote electric vehicles, global adoption will continue building momentum over the next few years.
Is it a demand issue, or is Toyota just looking for another excuse? With rivals like Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, BMW, and Honda advancing next-gen EV batteries, Toyota will only fall further behind if it continues delaying key projects.
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