West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin once again criticized the Biden administration’s electric vehicle tax credit provisions, reports Reuters.
Manchin, who is known for opposing the Biden administration’s policies and last week left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, told US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during the session testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee that regulations requiring locally sourced battery content to qualify for the EV tax credit have been watered down.
Mercedes-Benz battery factory
Enforced under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the battery materials regulations aim to exclude China from the US electric vehicle supply chain. The Biden administration last month issued guidance relax these regulations for two years, but maintains restrictions on Chinese content. That sounds like Manchin has a problem.
The senator said during the hearing that, rather than bolstering U.S. battery resources, the Treasury Department’s interpretation of battery materials regulations would leave China “in the market for the entire ranger of the IRA.” He called relaxing the regulations, allowing automakers to use Chinese-sourced battery materials such as graphite for longer periods, “violating the law.”
Ford’s battery testing and benchmarking laboratory in Allen Park, Michigan
This isn’t the first time Manchin has spoken out against the electric vehicle aspect of the IRA. While still a Democrat, he threatened to block the IRA because of its initial focus on union-made vehicles. That helped eliminate one proposal Union-made bonuses for EV tax creditsan admittedly initial method that only applies to a small number of models.
Manchin also spoke out against the so-called “rental loophole” created by the IRA. To the extent the intent was originally authorized by the Biden administration, it resulted in federal electric vehicle subsidies not qualifying for purchase tax credits, including those that exceed exceed the price limit set by the IRA. ONE the increase in EV leasing has followed — and an artificial incentive for automakers to continue producing more luxury electric vehicles.
