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At the same time that the Trump administration is moving to reverse electric vehicle promises made by the Biden administration, some states, even those led by Democrats, might be doing some of the same as they face budget shortfalls. Minnesota Public Radio's Clay Masters went to see how that's playing out at a dealership in the Twin Cities area.
CLAY MASTERS, BYLINE: Rob Powell walks through one of his Cornerstone Auto dealerships. He stops by the inventory desk and asks for the keys to an electric vehicle.
ROB POWELL: We don't have one, wow - not used or new, didn't expect that.
MASTERS: Powell says Cornerstone has around 500 new cars across the Twin Cities. Just seven of those are EVs. Now, that could mean EVs are especially popular. But to Powell...
POWELL: There's just not as many of them as there probably should be or used to be.
MASTERS: Every good public radio story starts with stepping inside a car and going for a ride, but we can't do that today.
POWELL: No.
MASTERS: So what should that tell me?
POWELL: I think it's partially through demand, through our ordering process.
MASTERS: And part, he says, it's about the number of cars manufacturers think they can sell in this market. And that number might soon tumble lower. Two years ago in Minnesota, lawmakers tried to encourage drivers to purchase electric vehicles by offering big rebates. This year, those rebates are gone, and in their place, a hike on the surcharges on those same cars.
CAROLYN BERNINGER: You know, we're coming off of Minnesota having its electric vehicle rebate program, which was very popular, but only funded for one year.
MASTERS: Carolyn Berninger is with Drive Electric Minnesota, a trade group looking to accelerate the adoption of EVs.
BERNINGER: And now we're kind of seeing the state go in the opposite direction.
MASTERS: That rebate program offered up to $2,500 for new EVs and $600 for purchases of used ones. But Berninger points out EV adoption in Minnesota is still very low. She's concerned customers won't want to go with an EV when they see that annual surcharge triple, from $75 to $200 starting next year.
BERNINGER: Hiking up fees, and particularly this $200 fee, would require electric vehicle owners to pay more in the electric vehicle fee than a lot of gas car owners pay through the gas tax.
MASTERS: Other states are also rolling EV incentives back. Colorado reduced its tax credit from $5,000 to 3,500. At the federal level, Congress voted to undo federal waivers for California. The White House wants to cancel funding for a $5 billion EV charging station grant program. Minnesota's Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison is part of a multi-state coalition of AGs suing the Trump administration over the move.
KEITH ELLISON: The thing that's happening in the legislature I disagree with, but I can't claim it's unconstitutional. What the president is doing is unconstitutional and illegal, and that's why we're suing him for it.
MASTERS: At the Capitol in St. Paul, Democratic governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz seems ready to pass the surcharge bill.
TIM WALZ: The gas tax is what - how we fund our roads. And the argument is is that EVs use our roads. They add to the maintenance of it. They should pay their fair share on that. And I think most EV owners agree with that.
MASTERS: The House here is tied between Republicans and Democrats this year. Democratic Representative Larry Kraft says he's disappointed lawmakers can't do more to curb climate change.
LARRY KRAFT: The climate doesn't give us a pause. The climate doesn't care about our politics. So the fact that we weren't able to make more progress, yes, I'm very disappointed, and I have renewed emphasis to work on it.
MASTERS: So at the same time that the Trump administration continues to disincentivize EV adoption, lawmakers, even Democrats, may charge Minnesotans a little more to keep their EV registrations up to date. For NPR News, I'm Clay Masters in St. Paul.
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