#ev-tax-credit

#ev-tax-credit

You have to get up pretty early in the morning to take down the Audi Q5. It has long held Audi's sales crown in the U.S. and beyond for good reasonas far as gas-powered luxury crossovers go, it's tough to find a better one. And yet the Q5 was just dethroned in the U.S. this past quarter by its new all-electric sibling, the Audi Q6 E-Tron. Audi yesterday reported that it sold 10,059 Q6 E-Trons in the U.S. from July through September.

"Market conditions" could mean a lot of things, and none of them are great news for America's EV industry. There are the Trump administration's wide-ranging tariffs, which are hiking up costs and creating migraines for automakers foreign and domestic. And then, of course, there's the looming end to the federal EV tax credit on September 30. Honda did not elaborate on whether the expiring policy played a role in the decision, but the timing is hard to ignore.

Announced investments in battery manufacturing peaked in 2022, following the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act meant to incentivize the production of electric vehicles and components, according to June 2025 data from research firmRhodium Group. In 2024, investments fell 80% from that 2022 peak, and in the first three months of 2025, companies cancelled a record $6 billion in battery manufacturing announcements.

The removal of tax credits and incentives to both build and purchase EVs will be a detriment to American industries, especially amidst a global shift to electrified vehicles.

"The EV tax credit—America's most sacred carrot for advancing the adoption of electrified vehicles—is on the chopping block."