XPost: alt.global-warming, talk.politics.guns, alt.fraud
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
In article <t1i7sr$3258u$
110@news.freedyn.de>
forging asshole <
governor.swill@gmail.com> wrote:
Democrats pass another pork laden lie on the stupid American people.
Congress is poised to approve newly expanded tax credits for
electric vehicles, but the rules are written in such a way as to
effectively disqualify every EV that’s currently on the market
today.
That’s because most EVs run on lithium-ion batteries that are
mostly made in China. The nation has a lock on some 76 percent
of the battery market today (the US only represents 8 percent).
And to get a deal passed in a deadlocked Senate, Democrats
agreed to provisions that would require eligible vehicles to use
batteries that are made in North America.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which passed the Senate
this weekend in a party-line vote, would require batteries to
have at least 40 percent of materials sourced from North America
or a US trading partner by 2024 in order to be eligible for a
$7,500 tax break. By 2029, battery components would have to be
100 percent made in North America.
Batteries that contain minerals that “were extracted, processed,
or recycled by a foreign entity of concern,” which is defined as
a state sponsoring terrorism or countries blocked by the
Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, would be
ineligible for the credit. China is listed as a “foreign entity
of concern” by the federal government.
Democrats, including West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who
negotiated the deal in secret with Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer, are running on a tough-on-China message this year. But
the auto industry says that the new requirements would basically
disqualify every EV on the market today.
According to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the auto
industry’s main lobbying group, there are currently 72 EV models
available for purchase in the United States, including battery,
plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric vehicles. Of those
models, 70 percent are ineligible for the tax credit when the
bill passes. And by 2029, when the additional sourcing
requirements go into effect, none would qualify for the full
credit.
“The $7500 credit might exist on paper, but no vehicles will
qualify for this purchase incentive over the next few years,”
John Bozzella, president and CEO of the alliance, said in a blog
post. “That’s going to be a major setback to our collective
target of 40-50 percent electric vehicle sales by 2030.”
Bozzella said the auto industry agrees that the domestic supply
chain needs serious investment — but not at the expense of
customer incentives. EVs are typically more expensive than
regular gas-powered vehicles, and experts believe that tax
credits are needed to bolster sales until battery costs are low
enough to trigger parity with internal combustion engine
vehicles.
Automakers could ask for waivers from the requirements, given
the precedent that allowed many manufacturers to avoid “Buy
America” rules that were enacted as part of last year’s
bipartisan infrastructure law, according to Politico. For
example, the law requires that new road and bridge projects use
domestically produced steel, but most states are able to waive
those requirements in favor of procuring cheaper steel from
overseas.
The Zero Emission Transportation Association, which represents
EV makers like Tesla and Rivian, isn’t seeking waivers — yet.
The lobbying group says that compliance deadlines could be
extended by a year or more in order to allow the industry more
time.
It won’t be a completely impossible task. Tesla uses local
suppliers for the majority of components in its electric
vehicles, with 65 percent of the parts used to make the Tesla
Model 3 (Long Range, Standard Range, and Performance) sourced
from the US and Canada. The EV maker has four models that are at
the top of the annual automotive index measuring the amount of
US-manufactured content in vehicles.
But it will still take time before the US can begin to challenge
China’s dominance in the battery market. Ford and South Korean
battery manufacturer SK Innovation are spending $11.4 billion on
several new factories in Tennessee and Kentucky, while General
Motors is planning four new battery factories in the US with
partner LG Chem. Toyota said it would construct a $1.29 billion
facility in North Carolina. And Stellantis, parent company of
Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler, selected Indiana as the site for its
first battery factory.
In Europe, Volkswagen is aiming to have six battery cell
production plants operating by 2030. And Tesla just finished its
battery factory in Berlin, which would produce 250GWh — roughly
equivalent to the current world battery cell production capacity.
Globally, battery production is expected to grow from 95.3GWh in
2020 to 410.5GWh in 2024, according to GlobalData, a data and
analytics company.
Republicans, who uniformly oppose the Inflation Reduction Act,
tried to make the supply chain requirements even stricter.
According to Politico, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced an
amendment that would require 100 percent of battery materials to
be sourced in North America immediately, rather than allow a
phase-in period. The amendment, though, did not pass the Senate.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/8/23296678/ev-tax-credit-qualify- battery-supply-chain-china
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