Senator: Incentivize, don't mandate, EVs

The federal government should support adoption of electric vehicles, but it shouldn't necessarily require them, said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the Michigan Democrat who proposes expanding tax breaks for consumers who buy EVs and companies that invest in making key components for cleaner vehicles.

Asked about establishing a national zero-emission vehicle mandate or federal phaseout of gasoline-powered vehicles — something U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein, both California Democrats, have called for — Stabenow said she prefers to move forward with incentives and support.

"The public sector should be partnering on the things that are appropriate for us to do, like making sure there's enough electric charging infrastructure," she told Automotive News last week.

The Senate Finance Committee last week advanced the Clean Energy for America Act, which includes Stabenow's bipartisan legislation to provide a 30 percent tax credit for manufacturers to retool or build plants for advanced energy technologies such as certain automotive components, EV batteries and semiconductors.

It also includes a bill led by Stabenow that would increase the consumer tax credit to as much as $12,500 for EVs assembled by union workers in the U.S. The current tax credit is $7,500 and phases out once an automaker sells 200,000 EVs. Stabenow's bill would eliminate that cap, allowing General Motors and Tesla — the only automakers that have exceeded the EV sales limit — to be eligible.

So far, Stabenow hasn't found a Republican colleague to co-sponsor that bill.

"It's a challenge right now. ... We'll just have to see how we move forward," she said.