Donald Trump has not made electric cars a major theme of his campaign, but he has repeatedly criticized them as a way to spar with his opponent, whom he has wrongly accused of wanting to ban gas cars. Trump, now president-elect, intends to take up the issue as part of his strong protectionist policy. This is a particularly sensitive topic for his base: According to a Gallup poll published in April 2023, 71% of Republicans refuse to consider purchasing a battery-powered car, compared to just 17% of Democrats.
For Trump, electric cars are a kind of heresy. He questions its environmental merits and accuses it of paving the way for Chinese domination, bankrupting American automakers and creating massive unemployment among workers. In contrast, Joe Biden’s presidency has been actively promoting it, with major tax breaks – up to $7,500 (or €6,982) for a new car and $4,000 for a used car – playing a major role. As a result, the share of electric vehicles rose from 1% of registrations in 2019 to 7% in 2024. In August, Trump told Reuters that he planned to eliminate these benefits.
As president, Trump could also challenge a $7.5 billion public investment program that aims to accelerate construction of a network of 500,000 charging stations across the United States. Subsidies paid to equipment manufacturers to help them adapt to the switch to electric vehicles are also at risk. Likewise, some Republican members of Congress have announced their intention to end a waiver granted to California (followed by 17 other US states) that allows it to impose environmental standards on automakers that are much more stringent than federal regulations.
Musk’s interests
It is clear that the president will not embrace his predecessor’s stated goal of making 50% of US car sales electric by 2030. However, Trump’s closeness to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has contributed generously to his campaign, gives reason to believe that he may… The case for electric cars is not entirely hopeless under a second Trump presidency. Trump candidly admitted, “I’m in favor of electric cars. And I should be, because Elon strongly supported me.”
Tesla, which controls nearly half of the U.S. battery-powered car market, has received $2.8 billion in government aid since its founding in 2003 and benefits greatly from selling its carbon to competitors; It does not want to see the market stifled. Musk is also looking to advance another area, autonomous vehicles, and plans to launch a “Cybercab” robotaxi in 2027. This ambition will call for an easing of restrictions on operating permits, which are currently granted on a case-by-case basis. The basis of the issue is at the local level. In the future, Musk would like to see this under federal control.
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