U.S. Inflation Reduction Act to Boost EV Adoption by 20 Percent, Analysis Finds

An all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning on an assembly line at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan.

An all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning on an assembly line at the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford

The U.S. EV fleet will be 20 percent larger in 2030 than previously forecasted thanks to new tax credits for electric vehicles, an analysis finds.

The recently passed Inflation Reduction Act includes tax credits for new and used EVs, incentives for commercial EVs, and loans and grants to ramp up EV manufacturing. These measures are expected to significantly boost sales of battery-powered vehicles over the next decade, according to a report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Amid growing consumer interest in plug-in cars, General Motors expects that its electric vehicles will begin generating a profit by 2025, it said Thursday. “GM’s ability to grow EV sales is the payoff for many years of investment in R&D, design, engineering, manufacturing, our supply chain, and a new EV customer experience that is designed to be the best in the industry,” CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. While its EVs will initially earn lower margins than its conventional cars, they could ultimately prove just as profitable thanks to tax incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act, Bloomberg reports.

The U.S. said Thursday that it is aiming for 30 percent of all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles — such as buses, delivery trucks, and semi-trailer trucks — to be zero-emissions by 2030, and for 100 percent to be zero-emissions by 2040.

President Joe Biden previously set a goal of 50 percent all new light-duty vehicles being zero-emissions by 2030. California and Massachusetts are mandating 100 percent of new vehicles be zero-emissions by 2035, and New York and Washington state are planning to follow suit. The governors of these states and eight others have called on President Joe Biden to adopt the same goal nationally.

ALSO ON YALE E360

Beyond Biden’s Climate Plan, a New Industrial Revolution Is Needed