Interesting fact about tax credits for EV vehicles. The battery will need to be NORTH American made. Excerpt from an article I read:
To help allay concerns about price toward increasing adoption, Democrats proposed an expansion of EV tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act; the credits took effect on Aug. 16. However, since the IRA was enacted, some experts are pointing out that the new credits exclude lower-priced EVs and could phase out entirely in 2023. Indeed, economically priced EVs from Toyota and Hyundai are now ineligible for EV tax credits, while Audi’s Q5 PHEV (plug-in hybrid EV) and BMW’s 330e qualify for up to $7,500—for now. Why? Democrats tied the EV credits to an “assembled in North America” requirement, and, in 2023, that includes the battery.
While the IRA’s $7,500 tax credit might sound great if you’re planning to purchase an EV, the law’s North America assembly stipulation means that most previously qualifying EVs are now ineligible. Additional provisions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023. They include the requirement that EV battery components contain a certain percentage of minerals from North America or a country with a free trade agreement with the United States. Plus, most of the battery must be manufactured or assembled in North America. “That’s going to be a huge burden and hurdle to overcome. We don’t have the mining, we don’t have the critical minerals that are needed in North America or from our free trade partners, and almost 90 percent of the refining is done in China,” Carla Bailo, CEO of the Center for Automotive Research, told NPR.
