Hummer EV Pickup

Make
GMC
Segment
Sports Car

Like Tesla, General Motors currently lacks a critical tool that can be used to attract consumers to buy its new electric vehicles. Both automakers have exhausted their supply of $7,500 federal tax credits that EV buyers can benefit from. At present, the law states automakers face a lifetime maximum of 200,000 electric vehicles that are eligible for the credit. Once a brand sells that number of EVs, the credit's amount is reduced in increments until it eventually drops to zero. GM is very actively working to change that.

Speaking to Automotive News, GM president of North America, Steve Carlisle, confirmed the automaker is asking the Biden administration to restore the full tax credit so that all automakers can compete on a "level playing field" when it comes to new EVs.

"Given all the potential barriers to adoption and the fact that we need to get moving along that curve, I think incentives in many different forms enter into the conversation," Carlisle said. Right now, GM only sells one battery-electric, though it's available in two body styles, the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. This will soon change.

Orders are currently being taken for the GMC Hummer EV truck and SUV, both currently priced over $100,000. Anyone who can afford one doesn't really need a $7,500 tax credit, but the incentive will be critical when it comes to future EVs that'll launch soon, such as the Chevy Silverado EV and $59,000 Cadillac Lyriq. GM's new Ultium batteries and platform will underpin a wide range of EVs.

Globally, GM aims to launch 30 EVs by 2025. More than two-thirds will be available in North America. The automaker has partnered with several EV charging companies and battery manufacturers as part of a larger effort to prepare the necessary national infrastructure and to make EVs more accessible. "We'd like to see that [cap] lifted and let the marketplace decide and not penalize first movers," GM CEO Mary Barra said in a recent interview with CNBC.

The Biden administration is expected to react positively to GM's request because of its own plans to cut national emissions in half. Its nearly $4 trillion infrastructure plan includes billions in transportation investments, including $174 billion in EVs.