California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday he will provide $7,500 electric vehicle rebates for his state if President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans dismantle the federal credit – one of several consumer cost-saving measures in President Joe Biden’s climate bill.
It’s the first of what could be several issues the California governor challenges Trump on, positioning himself as a clean energy leader. Three days after the election, Newsom called on the state legislature to hold a special session to Trump-proof its progressive policies.
Trump has promised to kill federal tailpipe rules that would push carmakers to produce more fuel-efficient hybrids and electric vehicles, and Republicans in Congress are expected to attempt to get rid of tax subsidies for cleaner vehicles.
On Monday, Newsom promised to step in to save the rules in his state, which has led the US in the number of EVs on the road every year since 2016. The governor proposed funding the new rebates from the state’s cap-and-trade program, which industrial polluters are required to pay into under state law.
“We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute,” Newsom said in a statement.
Neither Trump nor Newsom will be able to act alone to kill or create the tax credits – both need the help of their legislatures to do so.
Republicans in Congress are eyeing extending trillions of dollars’ worth of tax cuts in 2025 and have said they’ll look at repealing parts of the IRA to do so. The federal clean vehicle tax credit is thought to be one of the more vulnerable pieces of Biden’s 2022 climate and clean energy bill.
However, several GOP lawmakers have sprawling EV factories being built in their districts, which could complicate Republican ambition to swiftly kill the credit.
A clean-vehicle rebate program ran in California from 2010 to 2023, helping consumers buy more than 594,000 electric vehicles, according to the state’s news release. According to federal data, 37% of the country’s EVs are in California – about six times more than Florida, the state with the second-most EVs.
“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in the statement.
