A revamped proposal in the U.S. Senate to extend the tax credit for new electric vehicle purchases is less about consumers and more about sourcing, said Jennifer Safavian, CEO of industry trade group Autos Drive America.
"It's really a sourcing credit," she said Tuesday during a hybrid version of the annual CAR Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich."It's not about pushing electric vehicles and helping consumers purchase these vehicles. It's about bringing those resources, and the mining and the processing, either back to North America or with our partners in free trade agreements.
Those requirements would increase to 80 per cent after 2026 for critical minerals, and by 2029 would require 100 per cent of the battery components to be made or assembled in North America. Final assembly of the vehicle also must occur within North America — a provision that would apply immediately after the bill is enacted.
"I certainly understand the concerns people have about China and other entities that they don't want us working with," Safavian said."But there's not a lot of countries that have — all ready, ready to go — these minerals and the refining and the processing of these minerals, which again, takes much time to do."