President Donald Trump has had one California policy circled on his list for some time.
Shortly after Trump won the election, his transition team was already making plans to eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit for EV purchases enabled by the Inflation Reduction Act.
On November 14, just nine days after winning the election, Trump’s team told Reuters that he planned to take away the tax credit enabled by the Inflation Reduction Act.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom saw the opportunity to let President Trump and the world know exactly where he stands on the issue.
A few weeks following the Reuters report, Newsom announced on Nov. 25 that if Trump followed through on his threat, the state of California will revive a program that gave its state residents up to $7,500 for EVs.
But on Thursday, June 12, Trump, who has been publicly feuding with Newsom for days over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement immigration raids that have targeted Los Angeles in recent days, did what he could to kill that tax incentive as well.
The ICE raids have resulted in protests that have seen flashes of violence. This has allowed an opening for President Trump to call in the National Guard to quash the protests.
As the two have gone back and forth on social media, Trump used the power of the pen Thursday to get the upper hand on his political rival.
President Trump has California Governor Gavin Newsom in his sights.
Image source: Shutterstock
Trump signs resolutions to end California EV mandate
On Thursday, President Trump signed three resolutions barring California from mandating EV sales and setting stringent tailpipe exhaust emission standards to hasten the transition to EVs.
The resolutions revoke the federal waiver allowing California to set its own emission standards under the Clean Air Act. California had also planned to ban new gasoline car sales by 2035, but Trump’s resolution also takes that off the table.
The 17 states that adopted California’s standards will also no longer be able to mandate EV sales by 2035.
“We officially rescued the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating the California electric vehicle mandate once and for all,” Trump said Thursday.
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The president said “the trucking industry“ told him that EV trucks do not work because the vehicles are so heavy, thanks to the large batteries that power them.
According to Trump, EV semis are more than 2.5 times heavier than their diesel counterparts. He went on to say that the U.S. would have to rebuild every bridge in America because they weren’t designed for that weight.
This isn’t the first time President Trump has claimed EVs will force trillions of dollars in road repairs and improvements across the country.
Federal weight limits allow vehicles that weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, including cargo, on the road and put as much as 20,000 pounds of weight on a single axle.
A diesel tractor weighs between 10,000 and 25,000 pounds, while the empty trailer weighs another 10,000. Tesla semis, just the cab, can weigh between 19,000 and 22,000 pounds. Add a 10,000-pound trailer, and the weight could limit how much cargo each truck can safely and legally hold.
California governor responds to latest Trump jab
Gavin Newsom has been very active on social media over the past week, defending his state from barbs thrown by Republicans over the ICE protests that have sometimes turned violent.
He told NBC that the state will be suing to “stop this latest illegal action by a president who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.”
Trump, meanwhile, sees the move as a commonsense step to help the auto industry.
But he also took the time to give a light tap to his on-again, off-again friend Elon Musk, who owns the world’s most valuable EV company.
“Now we know why Elon doesn’t like me so much, which he does. Actually, he does,” President Trump said.
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