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Battery content. This is to stoke the buildout of the US battery manufacturing supply chain, and will derisk against geopolitical risk and China holding the energy transition hostage. As Charlie Munger said, “Show me the incentives, I'll show you the outcome.”

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/us-lim... ("US to limit Chinese firms, battery parts from winning EV tax credits")

(My take: It's just good policy considering global decoupling of trade and deglobalization in general; you must build to own your future and destiny, we are learning this the hard way after offshoring for decades)

Global decoupling of trade and deglobalization is good? Who decided that?
The geriatric US Senate.
That’s not what parent comment said
Energy infrastructure is pretty fundamental stuff, it is good to have some independence.

There are alternative configurations for globalization other than: everybody buys everything from one country.

Oh I don’t know, call me crazy but perhaps, just perhaps it could be the massive failure of the west’s several decade bet from like 1990 through 2015ish that open trade with Russia and China would influence their behaviors for the better. In reality all it did was give fairly hostile countries substantial leverage over the west. Good outcome yeah!

But im not a libertarian on the internet so what do I know.

Free trade certainly didn't make American behavior any better, so I don't know why anybody thought that.
> I thought Biden's administration was all about green energy. What gives?

Your complaint should be with the legislative branch, not the executive. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 added requirements on the battery material sources to come into effect 2024. The biggest problem for most EVs is that the act requires the materials not to come from a "foreign entity of concern" (FEOC) to qualify for the rebate. China is designated as an FEOC and most EV batteries have materials from China.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act

Only these 10 EVs will qualify for the full federal tax credit in 2024

    Chevrolet Bolt EV - $26,500

    Chevrolet Equinox EV - $48,995

    Ford F-150 Lightning - $49,995

    Tesla Model 3 Performance - $50,990

    Chevrolet Silverado - $51,895

    Tesla Model Y Performance - $52,490

    Chrysler Pacifica PHEV - $53,425

    Chevrolet Blazer EV - $60,215

    Cadillac LYRIQ - $58,590

    Tesla Model X - $79,990
https://www.thestreet.com/electric-vehicles/only-these-ten-e...
I guess the Model X somehow got classified as an SUV/light-truck, so they can sell it for much higher and still qualify for the subsidy. But it is questionable how many people who meet the income requirements for the subsidy are going to buy an 80k car in the first place.
If the Mach-E, Lyriq, and Model Y are classified on the 80k limit, the Model X definitely should be.
Frankly I don't know why bigger vehicles qualify for the subsidy more easily to begin with. America continues to incentivize bigger vehicles even though they are proven to be more dangerous for pedestrians.
Because they are trying to incentivize EV adoption not smaller vehicles. The top selling segments are SUVs and trucks. If you want to tackle emissions it makes sense to go after the popular vehicle types.
the top selling segments are SUVs

Seems like a self fulfilling prophecy.

Not just that - top selling or not, you want to remove worse emission vehicles since they contribute a larger amount to emissions. One truck replaced with an electric version is effectively equivalent to 1.5-2 sedans, in terms of emissions per mile.
The Chrysler Pacifica PHEV has a <40 mile electric range. But vehicles like the Mini Cooper SE, all of Hyundai/Kia's EVs, and Tesla's standard range Model 3 and Y are missing out on the subsidy while gas guzzling minivans rake in the dough.
Wait, what? Why would the Model 3 Performance be eligible for the credit but not the Model 3 Long Range? Do they actually have different batteries? I thought the only difference between them was motor, some software, and the wheels.
If you go by what everyone parrots on the internet, they are the same. But I haven't actually seen anyone specify part numbers of one vs the other. And it's Tesla, so what's true one moment may not be the next.

It's possible it own't even remain eligible. I believe it's inclusion here is because Tesla hasn't acknowledge it's exclusion. That could be because they discontinue offering a Performance model -- like they have in Europe with the launch of the Highland revision.

Shrug.

I would guess they aren't using a Chinese LFP battery in the M3 performance, but they are in the other models?
Unless they're heavily retooled (which is possible, I guess), historically they haven't been able to fit a large enough LFP battery into the Model 3 to meet the EPA range of the 'Long Range' version.

Also, the Performance version of every car Tesla makes has used an identical battery to the 'AWD' (or, Long Range) battery. You can tell, because the range is slightly reduced due to the additional motor and/or larger tires.

I know this is a bit of a chicken and egg thing because there just aren't that many smaller EVs, but it'd be nice to see more tax credits for smaller, cheaper vehicles.

Incentivising the hell out of the low end could make travel significantly cheaper for a huge number of people and might mean we can move away from this energy expensive, mutually assured destruction arms race of huger and huger vehicles.

Huge bummer for the EV industry but they’re honestly still just too expensive up front. First you need to have a home with a garage, then you need to have a 220v charging port - preferably two, preferably solar panels - and only then does it make sense to buy a base model for 40k, which is pretty expensive and never mind financing with these interest rates.
You don't need all of that. If you can charge at home that is helpful (even at L1 rates), but if you live near a DCFC that works too.

40k also isn't really expensive for a new car. It is below average.

Plugging in to L1 charging overnight for 12 hours will get you 420 miles a week of range, enough for 30 miles per week day and 270 on the weekend. More than that on the weekend and you're probably using a DC day charger anyways. You really only need 220V if you're driving >50 miles per weekday.

Or if you're parking outside in the winter. 120v will keep your battery warm or charge, but not both.