With the impending expiration of the $7,500 EV tax credit, Tesla and Ford are desperately pushing potential buyers to make their purchases before the September 30 deadline. Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill has ended the EV handout, much to the dismay of Elon Musk, Ford, and others trying to sell EVs to Americans who have not embraced the technology.
Business Insider reports that the race is on for automakers to sell as many EVs as possible before the $7,500 tax credit, a crucial incentive for buyers, comes to an end on September 30. President Donald Trump’s recently passed Big Beautiful Bill is set to eliminate this subsidy, which has played a significant role in making EVs more attractive to consumers.
In response to the looming deadline, Tesla and Ford are taking proactive measures to capitalize on the last-minute surge in demand. Tesla’s website prominently features a banner warning potential buyers about the expiring tax credit and urging them to take delivery by the end of September. Elon Musk’s EV giant is also reportedly sending out emails to would-be customers, emphasizing the importance of completing their purchases before the deadline to qualify for the $7,500 discount.
Analysts have cautioned that the removal of the tax credit, along with other measures in Trump’s bill targeting handouts for renewable energy, will lead to higher EV prices and significantly impact Tesla’s bottom line. However, Elon Musk has argued that the elimination of these incentives will disproportionately affect the company’s rivals and ultimately boost Tesla’s position in the long run, despite many of its vehicles currently benefiting from the tax credit.
Musk has become a vocal critic of the Big Beautiful Bill, claiming that it will increase the federal deficit and give China an advantage in the clean energy race. He has continually claimed that his rabid opposition of the bill and his personal betrayal of President Trump are not driven by the elimination of subsidies for EVs, but Trump disagrees.
In a post to Truth Social about Musk’s plan to launch a new political party, Trump commented on the Tesla CEO’s love of government money:
The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that with the Radical Left Democrats, who have lost their confidence and their minds! Republicans, on the other hand, are a smooth running “machine,” that just passed the biggest Bill of its kind in the History of our Country. It is a Great Bill but, unfortunately for Elon, it eliminates the ridiculous Electric Vehicle (EV) Mandate, which would have forced everyone to buy an Electric Car in a short period of time. I have been strongly opposed to that from the very beginning. People are now allowed to buy whatever they want — Gasoline Powered, Hybrids (which are doing very well), or New Technologies as they come about — No more EV Mandate. I have campaigned on this for two years and, quite honestly, when Elon gave me his total and unquestioned Endorsement, I asked him whether or not he knew that I was going to terminate the EV Mandate — It was in every speech I made, and in every conversation I had. He said he had no problems with that — I was very surprised!
Ford, meanwhile, is also taking steps to encourage buyers to act quickly. The automaker has extended its offer of a complimentary home EV charger and installation from July 8th to September 30th, coinciding with the tax credit’s expiration date. Stacey Ferreira, Ford’s head of sales strategy in the US, told Business Insider, “There’s never a better time to buy an EV than now,” citing the various incentives currently available in the marketplace.
Ferreira noted that Ford has introduced a “zero-zero-zero” incentive program, which includes zero down payment, zero payments for the first 90 days, and 0 percent interest for the first 48 months on select models. This program replaces an earlier incentive that offered employee discounts to all customers. Ferreira also pointed out that in other markets where tax credits have been phased out, there tends to be a spike in interest from consumers who haven’t yet made the switch to EVs but want to take advantage of the incentives before they disappear.
Read more at Business Insider here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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