America is deeply divided on electric vehicles. If there’s one state that encapsulates how profound that divide is, it’s Georgia. Over the past three years, some 35 EV projects have landed in the historically red state. The investments are adding tens of thousands of jobs, boosting rural economies and helping the U.S. fight climate change. Voters and lawmakers in the state love these benefits, but some of them still view EVs with suspicion.
This sets in motion the Friday edition of Critical Materials, your daily round-up of news that’s shaping up the world of electric cars. Also on today’s agenda: what dropping the cheaper Tesla Cybertruck trim says about demand and supply in the EV industry and how a Kamala Harris presidency would continue advocating for EVs.
30%: Georgia Loves EV Jobs, But Not EVs Themselves
Billions of federal dollars are pouring into Georgia, helping automakers establish sprawling EV factories and battery plants. Among these is Hyundai Motor Group’s upcoming “Metaplant,” which will locally manufacture EVs starting with the Ioniq 5.
Hyundai’s investment, boosted by incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act, is expected to add 8,500 well-paid manufacturing jobs to Savannah and the surrounding districts. But many voters down there who may benefit from these jobs aren't convinced by EVs and the general effort against climate change.
Here’s more from Politico this morning capturing the voter sentiment in Georgia:
Billions of dollars of federal money from a blue president have landed mostly in rural and red congressional districts. Battery component makers and battery recyclers — all of them creating decent-paying jobs — are popping up in far-flung rural outposts like dandelions after a rain.
But if Democrats were hoping for a surge of grassroots gratitude that would express itself at the polls in November, they might well be disappointed. The EV ambivalence in all-important Georgia is evident in the contortions of its elected officials and the voters who put them in office.
They like the prosperity that could come with making EVs, but not the California-style mandates that prop them up. They like the jobs but agree with many of their voters who think electric vehicles are a sheet metal-clad tenet of the Democrats’ woke ideology.
It’s like Silicon Valley at the dawn of the computer age, but without the fervent belief in silicon.
One voter said if Trump wins come November, Hyundai’s Metaplant would somehow get converted to a gas car factory. Another voter, an owner of a Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3, waving a Trump flag outside his garage, said people shouldn’t be forced to buy EVs, which is somewhat of an omnipresent sentiment among red states.
The EPA's latest emissions rules effectively require automakers to increase the share of electrified models in their fleets. The EPA said it's crucial to tackle hazardous emissions that cause great harm to public health. But automakers can achieve the EPA’s targets with a mix of powertrains, including gas-electric hybrids and fully electric models. Years from now, you can still walk into a showroom and choose from a gas car, hybrid or a fully electric one. There exists no “mandate.”
Meanwhile, Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp has vowed to convert the state into an “electric mobility capital.” Kemp toured Mercedes-Benz and Porsche factories in Germany before the pandemic—both companies have their U.S. headquarters in Atlanta—and was persuaded by German executives about their EV plans. After the meetings with the Germans, one official recalled Governor Kemp saying, “We need to be on the front end of this transition. We need to be recruiting these companies.” But members of his own party are resisting the shift to EVs, including Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance.
Interestingly, the first EV from the Hyundai Metaplant is expected to roll out before election day. It will be an Ioniq 5, the sales of which have been soaring across the U.S. on the back of attractive incentives, lease deals and financing offers. It shows that when EVs are priced right, customers buy them.
The situation begs the question, what will local leaders do to turn this sentiment around, provided the huge benefits to their own communities? Regardless of how that evolves, the booming investment will certainly benefit the rest of the country, even if locals in Savannah refuse to change their minds.
60%: What The Affordable Tesla Cybertruck's Death Means
Tesla recently removed the $61,000 rear-wheel-drive Cybertruck from its webpage. Buyers are now left with the $100,000 dual-motor Foundation Series and the tri-motor Cyberbeast Foundation Series that costs $120,000. CEO Elon Musk said in the past that the Cybertruck would undercut the Ford F-150 Lightning. That promise has been thrown out of the window.
Here’s what this says about supply and demand in the EV industry and the struggles involved in making EVs affordable, from Bloomberg:
This has emerged as a common, and troubling, trend bedeviling the US electric vehicle industry. Tesla has struggled to balance costs and demand across its EV lineup for nearly two years. Having expanded manufacturing capacity aggressively, Elon Musk’s automaker cut prices for most models to juice demand—only to reap weaker sales and margins.
It’s one thing to stir up the industry with a flashy EV and sell high-profit margin trims to a limited number of buyers. Making affordable models for a larger audience is an entirely different ballgame.
It’s a challenge that Lucid, Rivian, Ford and others are also facing as they prepare to launch their mass market EVs in the second half of this decade. There will be winners and losers and it’s anyone’s guess which brand will show resilience and survive this tough transition.
90%: What A Harris Presidency Would Mean For EVs
Donald Trump’s freshly brewing bromance with Elon Musk has made him go soft on EVs recently. At a recent rally, he said Teslas were “great” but “that doesn’t mean everyone should have an electric car.” While Trump’s EV messaging ebbs and flows, his rival Vice President Kamala Harris has been championing clean energy consistently and proactively.
During her Detroit tour in May this year, Harris said:
I’m proud to announce we are investing $100 million in small- and medium-sized auto supply companies, many of which are Black-owned and based right here in Michigan. These grants will allow businesses to upgrade production and production lines to produce parts for electric vehicles.
Harris will continue advocating for EVs and renewables. She may also be more effective in doing so than President Biden. Studies show that underrepresented communities and people of color are impacted more severely by air pollution caused by transportation. For over a decade, Harris has advocated against air pollution affecting impoverished communities. Now with the intersection of EVs and social justice, she is primed to lead the charge.
100%: Will Southern States Embrace EVs?
Nearly half of the EV projects supported by the Inflation Reduction Act have landed in the so-called “battery belt,” spanning Southeastern states like Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Given the economic benefits for these states, do you think one day locals there will truly embrace EVs? Or will America continue being deeply divided? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com
