Expanding domestic electric vehicle and battery manufacturing creates jobs and gives America the edge to lead in this important international market. Tax credits are tools to help us win, and Congress should keep them in place.

The global auto market grew by 25% in 2024, and nearly one in five cars sold globally is now electric. A record 1.3 million EVs were sold in the US, a 7.3% year-over-year increase that outperformed the 2% increase in nationwide sales of gas vehicles. Automakers are offering an increasing number of EV models to compete in this rapidly expanding global marketplace. 

To ensure that American workers benefit from this global growth, Congress should preserve existing EV manufacturing and consumer tax credits and ensure that automakers build these EVs and batteries in the US. These credits have already unleashed over $215 billion in announced private-sector EV and battery investments and created 238,000 jobs.

If you think this economic boom doesn’t apply to the Southeast, think again. Over the past two years, the Southeast has emerged as the nation’s leading EV and battery manufacturing region, accounting for 38% of the nation’s investments and 31% of anticipated jobs. These investments deliver economic development and employment, especially to our region’s rural communities.

• Topping the list of rural economic development is Toyota’s $13.9 billion battery manufacturing facility in Randolph County, North Carolina. The facility is expected to create 5,100 jobs and is the nation’s highest clean energy investment.
• Hyundai has made the second-largest regional investment at its battery manufacturing and EV assembly plant in Bryan County, Georgia. That investment tops $6 billion and is expected to create 3,400 jobs. It has had a massive ripple effect, with Hyundai suppliers announcing more than $2.7 billion in investments and an anticipated 6,900 jobs across the state.

Manufacturing and Consumer Tax Credits Work Together

The manufacturing and consumer tax credits were designed to complement one another by expanding domestic EV and battery manufacturing, creating American jobs, securing domestic supply chains, and encouraging EV adoption.

Eliminating either the manufacturing or consumer incentives will undermine these goals.

Manufacturing tax credit incentivizes companies to expand and relocate operations in the US, securing domestic supply chains and creating American jobs. Consumer tax credits provide up to $7,500 for new and $4,000 for used EVs for consumers and up to $40,000 for fleet operators to switch to EVs. The critical hitch is this: Consumer credits are only good on EVs that meet domestic critical mineral, battery, and assembly requirements. This further incentivizes automakers and battery producers — both American and foreign — to build manufacturing capacity here in the United States.

Eliminating the manufacturing tax credit will create uncertainty and chill private sector investments in our region and nationwide. Similarly, if the consumer tax credit is eliminated, incentives for automakers to assemble EVs and source batteries in America, by American workers, will disappear. 

Researchers from Princeton University’s REPEAT Project recently reported that without the consumer EV tax credit, sales of battery electric vehicles could drop 40% by the end of this decade, resulting in 8.3 million fewer EVs on American roads in 2030. As a result, as much as 100% of planned construction and expansion of US EV and battery assembly and half of existing assembly capacity could be at risk of cancellation or closure.

In the Southeast, Representative Buddy Carter in GA’s 1st District supports maintaining EV and battery manufacturing momentum. Hyundai’s plant is located in his district. Use the button below to tell Rep. Carter to keep fighting for advanced auto manufacturing jobs in Georgia and beyond.

Contact Rep. Carter

Meanwhile, Chinese brands, which account for half of all EVs sold globally and 80% of the world’s lithium-ion battery production, would be thrilled to see the end of America’s EV and battery manufacturing renaissance.

Congress, particularly Republican senators and representatives from districts with investments and jobs at stake, must understand that eliminating the tax credits will weaken domestic EV and battery production and the domestic EV market, thereby delivering the global EV market to Chinese automakers and battery producers, and undercutting American workers and undermining America’s supply chain security. 

Congress should prioritize strengthening the American auto sector’s ability to compete globally, securing America’s supply chains, and protecting American jobs. Federal tax credits are helping us catch up in the international EV race by incentivizing American automakers to expand EV manufacturing and global auto and battery manufacturers to invest in America. Killing the tax credits will all but ensure that Chinese companies win and American workers, including nearly 74,000 in the Southeast, lose.