Drivers charge their Teslas in Fountain Valley, CA, on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (Photo by Jeff … [+]
The new Trump presidential administration takes office on Monday – one with a more skeptical view of electric vehicles than the outgoing Biden administration.
“The new administration presents challenges in the near term,” said Bassem Ammouri, chief operating officer of EV Connect Inc., which provides EV charging management software and services.
A $7,500 tax credit for purchasing an EV may be on the chopping block. “I think it will be eliminated in the short term,” Ammouri said.
At the same time, the executive said the outlook isn’t all gloomy.
“We have reached a critical point for EV adoption,” Ammouri said in an interview earlier this month. “We’ve reached critical mass.”
EVs, he added, have become “a real option for more consumers.”
EV Connect was founded in 2009. The company’s services include providing charging for businesses and installing charging stations.
The company was acquired by Schneider Electric in 2022. Schneider is involved with electrification and automation.
EVs have been held back by concerns about vehicle range between charges and availability of charging stations.
Ammourri said there are signs that progress is being made.
“The realities are becoming more understood by drivers,” the executive said. He added that “80% to 90% of charging takes place at home. I think people are starting to see through that.”
Also, he said, “most cars have a 350-mile range.”
In 2024, there were mixed results for EVs.
Some automakers, such as General Motors Co. slowed down EV investment.
GM said Dec. 2 it will sell its stake in an almost completed Lansing, Michigan, battery plant to its joint venture partner LG Energy Solution. Terms were not disclosed while the automaker said it expects to recoup its investment at Lansing.
Detroit-based GM will now rely on two joint venture plants in Ohio and Tennessee to supply the automaker’s factories that produce EVs.
“We didn’t need that capacity, GM CEO Mary Barra said in a December Automotive Press Association event in Detroit.
Barra, however, remains a big supporter of EVs.
“We fundamentally believe EVs are better,” she said in December. The number of available chargers remains an issue, she added. “We can’t get ahead of the consumer.”
GM reported on Jan. 3 that its fourth-quarter U.S. EV sales more than doubled to 43,982. Full-year EV deliveries surged 50% to 114,432.
In November, a Toyota Motor Corp. executive said at a separate Automotive Press Association event that industry investments will have to play out despite the change in administrations.
“It’s really important to recognize investments can’t be undone in four years,” David Christ, group vice president and general manager of Toyota’s Toyota division, said in Troy, Michigan.
“Once the direction is set, it’s moving,” Christ added. “That ball is moving downhill.” Toyota has announced EVs and plug-in hybrid models. The automaker also is planning a battery production operation in North Carolina. That plant is scheduled to open in 2025 with 14 production lines.
EV Connect’s Ammouri said this year may see mergers and acquisitions in the EV supply base.
“There will be winners and losers and we’ll begin to see that in 2025,” he said.