Why Trump's "Beautiful" bill isn't the end of the line for the American EV market

Plus, a review of a big ol' truck

Good morning, dear readers, and greetings from the home front. It's a holiday weekend here in the United States. I celebrated our day of independence by doing spark plugs plus air and fuel filters on my Japanese Subaru. Perhaps not the most patriotic of activities, but in my humble opinion, it was more respectful to our country than what the majority of our elected representatives in Washington were doing.

Speaking of...

The future of American EVs without incentives

I spent much of this past week in Spain driving a series of things I look forward to telling all y'all about as soon as I'm able. While out there, I got a note from Engadget's Aaron Souppouris, kindly asking if I wouldn't do a bit of a breakdown/teardown of the "Big Beautiful Bill" as it applies to the evolving world of battery-powered cars in these great United States.

That meant I spent a good chunk of the flight home reading legislative drafts. If you know me, you know I try to not get political in public spaces. There's just little point. But, I fell compelled to say that, as a citizen of this planet, I couldn't help shaking my head at the seemingly endless list of environmental causes blindly put to the axe by this bill. Just scanning the list made my airline lunch even harder to stomach.

Once I got past that, it didn't take me long to parse what happens to American federal EV incentives: They're all dead, most evaporating on the first of October. That means no more $7,500 federal credit for new EVs, no $4,000 credit for used, and no more incentives for businesses installing chargers.

The bill also effectively bans the zero-emissions credits that have generated huge windfalls of revenue for brands like Tesla and Rivian. That provision, though, looks like it may be complicated to implement, as it's trampling all over states' rights to impose their own credits. The exact fallout from this won't be known until a suitable cadre of lawyers has taken their pound of flesh.

Regardless, the $7,500 credit is going away, and to try and figure out what that means for the American market, I looked to Germany, which in 2023 also shuttered its EV incentive. Sales of emissions-free cars took a nose-dive immediately after, but it isn't all doom and gloom. Those sales have since rebounded, and we see major German auto makers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche continuing along their EV product timelines -- though most are also hedging their bets with an extended portfolio of internally combusted options.

So, be ready for American EV sales in the last quarter of this year to look like a bloodbath, a trend I’d expect to see continue into the first quarter of 2026. But I don't believe that marks the end of the road for American electrification, and you shouldn't either. Whatever your thoughts about the environment or the current American administration, EVs are simply better to drive and, yes, even cheaper to own, too — even without a big tax credit to soften the initial blow.

Anyhow, you can read all the details on that and how we almost wound up with a $250 annual fee just for owning an EV over at Engadget:

Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' is bad for American EVs, but it could have been worse - Engadget

RAM's RHO cuts the TRX’s price and power, but not its ‘tude

Changing gears in the most dramatic of fashions, have a gander of my review of Ram's latest high-horsepower offering, the RHO. It's something of a replacement for the bonkers TRX, which with 702 horsepower and a nearly $100k asking price, was just a bit, well, much. The RHO drops the power to 540 thanks to a turbocharged V6 engine and, kindly, brings the price down to a rather more attainable $69,995. Mainstream this ain't, but with the average new truck price creeping up past $60,000 this year, that's well within splurge territory.

Ram's 2025 1500 RHO has the F-150 Raptor looking over its shoulder - Yahoo Autos

That's all from me this week. I have one more big, beautiful day at home before hopping on a plane and heading over to the U.K. to sample the Goodwood Hillclimb. It's a great event that's only been getting better over the years as its selection of off-road and rally legends has continued to swell. This year, I'm told there's a collection of Colin McRae machines on display, and I can't wait to see them.

I'll have impressions and photos from there in the weeks ahead. Until then, be well and do good.