For a variety of reasons, a new study is reporting that the pace of electric vehicle battery plant construction significantly slowed in the first quarter of this year.
Between January and March, a handful of companies cancelled upwards of $6 billion in battery manufacturing, notes the study by the New York-based firm Rhodian Group.
This is in stark contrast to a nearly constant upwards trend in recent years which saw investment go from $1 billion per quarter in 2022 to more than $11 billion per quarter last year.
The Rhodian study, Global Clean Investment Monitor: Electric Vehicles and Batteries, notes that the “electric vehicle and battery manufacturing sectors are now at risk of having core policy support revoked.”
Continues the study: “President Trump’s trade policies, as well as signs of slowing demand, cast further doubt on the outlook for electric vehicles in the US.”
Exploring growth challenges in the near and distant future, the study wonders what will happen to battery manufacturing if various tax credits, as have been proposed by the Trump administration, are rolled back for such projects.
Equally problematic: a possible decrease in state emissions standards.
While the U.S. in the past few years has been closing in on China as the number one battery manufacturer, the study says the domestic industry is anxiously regarding such factors as international trade policy and overall geopolitics.
Much depends on what Congress will do in the coming weeks with budget and tax legislation. Recent proposals currently being studied by lawmakers says the study “would eviscerate manufacturing and consumer tax credits.”
A pause in many federal grants for the electric vehicle and battery industry, adds the report, may only “further slow momentum.”
June 23, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Image courtesy of Pixabay
