Trump's big win last week could spell trouble for EV automakers

Ford is idling production of its F-150 Lightning, the latest in a series of announcements signaling a slower-than-expected transition to electric vehicles. What are other automakers planning?

Transcript

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

The auto industry has embarked on a multibillion-dollar effort to build more electric vehicles. Now, with the election of Donald Trump, the industry is, well...

COMPUTER-GENERATED VOICE: Recalculating.

SUMMERS: NPR's Camila Domonoske reports on how this redirection could change the vehicles Americans buy.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: President-elect Donald Trump dismisses climate change. He's promised to cut EV requirements and incentives. And he campaigned saying things like this at a rally in May.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: If you want to take a nice trip from, let's say, New Jersey, and you want to go and visit me at the White House in a little while, don't go buy an electric car.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: You won't make it.

DOMONOSKE: So what does this mean for cars? After talking with folks across the auto industry, here are three takeaways. First, it's not the end of EVs. Billions of dollars have already poured into EV projects - projects which support a lot of jobs and are seen as key to competing with China. Automakers are hoping that nobody will want to lose that money, those jobs or that competitive advantage. And some shoppers simply want to buy EVs, whether to save the planet or just save on gas. Here's Toyota exec Jack Hollis.

JACK HOLLIS: There's going to be a need 'cause the customers are asking us for BEVs.

DOMONOSKE: BEVs, or battery electric vehicles - now, Toyota has long favored hybrids over EVs, but even Toyota is planning to keep some all-electric vehicles in their lineup.

HOLLIS: Regardless of who is the president and what rules and what country we're going to, we were going to do that as our own pathway.

DOMONOSKE: But second point - this does almost certainly slow down the rollout of EVs in the U.S. The auto industry was already slowing down some EV plans after disappointing sales. And that was with Biden policies supporting the cars - a $7,500 consumer tax credit, requirements that vehicles pollute less, funding for factories and chargers. And there are state mandates, too. Now, the Trump administration is poised to throw things in reverse.

TERRY O'DAY: It's clear that these regulations and incentives are under threat.

DOMONOSKE: Terry O'Day is the COO of InCharge, a company that installs chargers for fleets like electric vehicles owned by delivery companies. He's preparing to pivot, focusing less on adding new chargers and more on taking care of ones that are already built. Long-term, he's confident EVs will outcompete gas on price. But for now, this hurts.

O'DAY: Some companies might not make it across the line if some of these incentives and regulations change to the degree that we're hearing that they might.

DOMONOSKE: Third point - this'll get messy. There will be lawsuits. There will be lobbying. And there will be different timelines for the changes under Trump. Kenny Stein is with the Trump-supporting group, the Institute for Energy Research.

KENNY STEIN: Some things can be within the first hundred days.

DOMONOSKE: Like executive actions promoting EVs - those can be undone almost immediately. Others will take action from Congress or comment periods, then lawsuits - a year at a minimum. Meanwhile, the auto industry, by its nature, has to plan things years in advance. So take, say, the rules about tailpipe pollution for the next couple of years.

STEIN: Carmakers are already making investments to try and comply with those things. So they can't try and do the 2025 model year. That's already happening.

DOMONOSKE: And then there are two total wild cards. One is what happens with tariffs. The other is how Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and a key Trump adviser, uses his influence. Exactly how this U-turn will unfold? - well, we're about to find out.

Camila Domonoske, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE'S "THE STRANGER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.