Trump’s plan to get rid of the $7,500 EV tax credit is one of his most alarming campaign promises. It’s also a gift to the Chinese and completely at odds with his pledge to rebuild the U.S. manufacturing sector.

In an emperor has no clothes moment, Kia executive Steve Center observed: “It would just be dumb.” (InsideEVs)

The manufacturers themselves agree, albeit with a bit more tact.

In October, a trade group that included Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Honda, Toyota, and other car companies sent an open letter to Republican Congress members urging them to keep the tax credits and “support billions of dollars of investment and thousands of American jobs.” Just a month later, they followed up with a letter to the President-elect.

If federal support for EVs and domestic battery manufacturing dries up, the only American manufacturer unlikely to suffer in the long term is Tesla. It could deeply harm legacy automobile manufacturers by making a hard job even harder and damaging their global competitiveness.

But that’s not the only point the Republican Party is missing.

Repealing the tax credit would also eliminate the incentives supporting domestic manufacturing and the thousands of jobs it supports. Key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, included at Senator Joe Manchin’s insistence, mandate that EVs sold in the U.S. be powered by batteries made in America using domestically sourced minerals and materials.

The U.S. already trails China in EV and battery manufacturing. While the U.S. slept, China invested heavily to achieve its current—and frankly amazing—level of innovation. The IRA’s tax credits are our best shot at regaining some ground. They provide the financial incentives needed to build battery manufacturing facilities, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and significantly grow the U.S. EV market.

Sorry, Virginia. The age of the internal combustion engine is coming to an end as did the age of horses and buggies before it. EVs are the future of the global automobile industry, and for good reasons. Over the life of the car, EVs are better for our wallets, the climate, and our health. (American Lung Association). The legacy U.S. automobile industry stands on the precipice. Killing the tax credits could push it over the edge.

Let’s help our decision-makers understand what’s at stake!