Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Wednesday, Sept. 17.
The latest electric vehicle registration data has arrived, as reported in this story today by Laurence Iliff. July generated another robust month for U.S. sales as buyers hustled to dealerships to grab EVs before the federal $7,500 tax credit expires on Sept. 30.
U.S. EV registrations grew 6 percent to 124,961 in July, S&P Global Mobility said. They gained nearly 7 percent to 745,616 vehicles for the first seven months of 2025.
We probably won't know until next year how many of the EVs will qualify for the full $7,500 credit with the required sticker price ceiling of $80,000 for SUVs and $55,000 for sedans. Leased EVs also qualify — and leases make up the lion's share of sales. But for the sake of quantification, let's conservatively estimate that half of these registrations will be eligible.
That would mean the U.S. Treasury — that's you, the taxpayer — would collect about $468 million less in taxes because of credits granted for July EV sales. Through July, the Treasury would collect about $2.8 billion less.
And guess what? Strong August and September EV sales reports are still to come!
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Of course, the merits of these subsidies are subject to debate.
Supporters say we've stimulated the long-term growth of a strategic transportation technology that will liberate this country from internal combustion engine emissions.
Critics argue taxpayers have wasted billions of public dollars on vehicles that will never be fully embraced by U.S. drivers and provide little or no benefit to the environment.
Either way, the subsidies end soon and EVs will have to stand on their own in the U.S. market unless states adopt the credits themselves.
But EV risks and liabilities for taxpayers don't end there.
EV maker Rivian Automotive Inc. on Tuesday broke ground on its long-awaited assembly plant in Georgia with the help of a $6.6 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy approved during the Biden administration. Taxpayers would be on the hook if Rivian fails.
Then there are state-level grants and subsidies for various EV assembly and battery plants. In Michigan, taxpayers have already forwarded about $70 million for a $1.6 billion EV battery plant by startup Our Next Energy. The project is shrinking dramatically, with the company negotiating with its landlord to exit 450,000 square feet of space, or about two-thirds of the plant, our affiliate Crain's Detroit Business reported.
That's it for now. If you want to see this story in your browser, click here.
— Philip Nussel, online editor
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