Report shows EV manufacturing slowing in Southeast as tax credits expire

CHARLOTTE — Starting Wednesday, it will cost more to buy an electric vehicle as the $7,500 federal tax credit expires.

The credit, which was initially set to last until 2032, is one of many Biden-era clean energy tax credits and subsidies set for an early end due to the One Big Beautiful Bill that Republicans passed this summer.

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At the time, Republicans said that ending the subsidies would save taxpayers money and force these industries to stand on their own without government help.

The Southeast, in particular, has attracted many EV and battery manufacturing projects with companies announcing billions in investment and thousands of proposed jobs in the Carolinas in the wake of the incentives promised in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

With many of those incentives set to sunset earlier than initially anticipated, a report from Atlas Public Policy and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy shows a mixed bag when it comes to the future of industry.

Projects, including the Toyota battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina, are up and running and the massive Scout Motors facility in Blythewood, South Carolina, is still on schedule for 2027 operations but is adding a hybrid option along with its EV models.

Other projects, including the VinFast battery facility in Chatham County, have been delayed and a Gigafactory in Florence has been canceled. This means thousands of anticipated jobs are either in limbo or will never come to fruition.

As for EV sales in the region, the report shows they’re hovering around 9% of all new passenger vehicle sales through the first half of 2025. It remains to be seen, whether the losing the EV tax credit will impact sales for the rest of the year.

VIDEO: Political and market uncertainty in EV market could stifle burgeoning industry in Carolinas