Grim lithium faces Trump-Musk EV irony

Even though Tesla boss Elon Musk is fresh from his Oval Office press conference this week with President Donald Trump, Republicans elsewhere in the capitol are moving to kill incentives for his electric vehicle (EV) company.

Senate Republicans proposed bills on Wednesday that would end the country’s $7,500 EV tax credit, and set a new $1,000 purchase tax on EVs to help pay for road repairs. They would also cut the $4,000 used EV credit, the federal investment tax credit for EV charging stations and credits for leased EVs. All credits would end 30 days after the bill is signed into law.

Design: James Alafriz

New EV sales in the U.S. rose by 7.3% last year to 1.3 million, partly because of the $7,500 credit introduced under the Biden’s administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, according to the BMO Metals Brief on Friday morning.

Freefall

All this comes as Tesla’s share price has plunged 27% since Dec. 17. Musk with global enterprises from X to SpaceX might have scooped up lithium resources on a planetary scale considering the metal’s 85% freefall from 2022 heights. He has mulled the idea of mining his own battery metals.

Now Musk leads a team of young recruits scrutinizing government waste while some Democrats wonder if the Constitution even allows a new department with a civilian head to be created without Congressional approval.

Everything seems possible under Trump, even pushing measures against the EV business of his new government efficiency expert. But Tesla shares actually rebounded a tad this week. BMO says it’s because buyers will rush to showrooms before the incentives expire.