News: Legislation

US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imported automobiles (again), and one reaction from the UK is to reconsider its policy on electric vehicle subsidies, especially since it is providing so much money to Tesla buyers.

“Tesla has benefited from £188m in UK taxpayer subsidies in nine years,” The Independent writes.

After imposing a 25% tariff on automobiles exported from the UK to the US, it’s quite natural for British people in the auto industry and politicians to say, “Hey, we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars to subsidize your cars, and now you want to slap a tax on ours? Let’s reconsider how our EV policies work….” UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the government is reviewing its electric vehicle transition rules, amid calls for reciprocal tariffs on Tesla imports,

Source: Clean Technica: Read The Article

PSR Analysis: The backlash against the Trump tariffs is slowly starting to take shape and a lot of this is directed at Tesla because of Elon Musk and his support for Trump. Given that Tesla put an end to the myth that Europeans won’t buy American cars, it’s a very odd place for Tesla to be in and they probably will remain there until such time as the dump Musk or go bankrupt.    PSR

Guy Youngs is Forecast & Adoption Lead at Power Systems Research