LORDSTOWN, Ohio – Sales of electric vehicles soared last month, as buyers dashed to showrooms in a last-minute scramble to purchase new models before generous federal tax credits expired Sept. 30.
Without these incentives, it’s a general consensus that EV sales will drop in the coming months, effectively squashing the lofty goals that some U.S. automakers put in place three years ago that envisioned all-electric, zero-emission lineups of new cars and trucks over the next decade.
What is uncertain is how these changes might impact major employers that make up the EV supply chain, as companies such as Ultium Cells LLC in Lordstown keep a close watch on the market.
No Word Yet on Impact
“They don’t know what’s going to be in store in the future,” says George Goranitis, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, which represents hourly workers at Ultium’s sprawling plant.
The Inflation Reduction Act passed in 2021 during the Biden administration allowed qualified consumers to claim federal tax credits amounting to $7,500 toward the purchase of a new North American-manufactured EV sport utility vehicle with a price tag of $80,000 or less. The tax credit also covered sedans, hatchbacks, or crossovers with a sticker price of $55,000 or less. Those tax credits were set to expire at the end of 2032.
Instead, the Trump administration favored discontinuing the credits as of Sept. 30 under the budget reconciliation bill that passed Congress earlier this year.
Ultium – a joint venture between General Motors Co. and Korea-based LG Energy Solution – is among the Mahoning Valley’s largest employers, with approximately 2,200 salaried and hourly workers. The company manufactures battery cells used in several GM EV models, such as the Chevrolet Equinox, the GMC Hummer, and the Silverado.
The Equinox is an especially important end-user, since the vehicle is the No. 1-selling vehicle in GM’s EV portfolio. During the third quarter, GM reported that sales of Equinox EVs hit 25,085 units, a whopping 156.7% increase over the same period in 2024. Equinox EVs accounted for more than 25% of all 98,779 Equinox units sold during the period.
Goranitis says the plant is still very busy, spurred in part by record EV sales over the past two months. “With that $7,500 tax credit expiring, though, we’re not sure where we’re going to lie in the upcoming months,” he says.
More importantly, the Local 1112 president emphasizes there are no discussions of any layoffs at the plant. Still, there is a sense of uncertainty as to the health of the EV space.
“We’ve had good sales over the last two months, but there are just the unknowns with the tax credit being taken away,” Goranitis says. “All of the crews are working and making good quality cells for our customers,” he reports. “Hopefully, this month and within this quarter the EVs are still selling good.”
Ultium declined to comment at this time, according to a company spokesperson.
The New Normal
Some automakers have attempted to put in place incentives of their own to help offset the loss of the tax credits. According to a Reuters report Sept. 29, Ford Motor Co. and GM, for example, initially pushed out programs to retailers in which the manufacturer’s financing division would place down payments on EVs in dealers’ inventory. These down payments would then qualify for the $7,500 tax credits, and dealers would then factor those credits into the lease rate.
However, these automakers abruptly backed off the programs after Sens. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wrote a letter to U.S. Treasury Department Secretary John Bessent requesting that he close the tax credit loophole.
GM has said it would continue to offer a $7,500 discount without the credit until the end of October, while Ford said it would not use the tax credit but would maintain “competitive” lease payments.
Meanwhile, reactions from those customers who have purchased EVs are overwhelmingly positive, says David Sabolksy, general sales manager at Spitzer Chevrolet in North Jackson.
Sabolsky says that he’s been in the business since 1988, and he says he’s a pretty good judge when it comes to customer satisfaction or reactions to new products, and EVs have proved to be a great product. “I haven’t had one customer complain. Everyone that has purchased or leased one of these loved them,” he says.
Indeed, the rush for EVs during September was especially evident at Spitzer’s dealership on Mahoning Avenue. “At the end of the month, we sold out,” he says. “We had nothing left.” The Spitzer Auto Group also operates six additional Chevrolet stores in northeastern Ohio, and each of their showrooms were cleaned out of EVs, he says.
Fortunately, Sabolsky says the dealership has several new EVs on order, including some Chevrolet Blazers, Equinoxes, and Silverado pickups. “These are fantastic vehicles,” he says.
While it’s likely EV sales will take a hit with the loss of the tax credit, Sabolsky believes that the market will gradually rebuild as it attracts that specific niche customer. “It’s a very special buyer,” he says.
Others aren’t quite sold on the idea. Marquasha Moody, who owns a Ford Mustang Mach EV, says when it comes time to purchase a new vehicle, she’ll consider a plug-in hybrid, but not an EV again.
“Never,” she declares, after plugging her Mustang into a DC fast-charging station at a Sheetz station in Weathersfield Township. “There aren’t a whole lot of fast chargers around. This is the closest one to me, and it’s a half-hour away.”
Moreover, Moody drives an older, 2021 Mach EV model. While the vehicle is “so cool” and she likes it overall, she says it’s impractical for her driving habits. Plus, the battery capacity allows approximately 120 miles on a full charge. EV batteries on new models can travel more than 300 miles on a single charge. “If I have a gas/electric hybrid where I can switch back and forth, I’m fine with that,” she says.
Slow but Not Dead
Automakers and dealers had already anticipated the elimination of tax credits shortly after the new administration took office in January, says Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst for Edmunds. “We’ve been waiting for this to happen,” he says. “It wasn’t a matter of if, but when. I think automakers have had some time to think of contingency plans.”
Aside from Ford and GM’s programs, for example, Korean automaker Hyundai has announced that it would drop the retail price on some of its EV models to soften the impact.
Still, Yoon says it’s inevitable that EV sales will decline in the wake of the tax-credit rollback. “Despite the efforts of automakers, I wouldn’t be surprised of you see a slump in sales,” he says. This would especially impact a segment of the public that is wavering on whether to consider an EV, he says. Those who are undecided are less likely to adopt an EV without the help of a tax credit.
On the other hand, these tax credits were never meant to be permanent, Yoon says, and he emphasizes the incentives were intended to help stimulate adoption in an emerging industry in the United States as it developed.
What is heartening for the EV segment is that technology and development is accelerating at a rapid clip – reducing costs and improving efficiencies along the way, Yoon says. “For a lot of us, we’re used to seeing generational technology for gas cars change in the timeframe of five to 10 years,” he says. “Now, this stuff is happening in five to seven months. I think automakers are on track to get close to pricing parity sooner than we think.”
Yoon treats the disappearance of the tax credits as more of an inconvenience rather than a true hindrance to EV adoption in the long-term. “We might not get the full rollout we hoped for,” he acknowledges, “but the industry, whether the United States likes it or not, is on the slow march to electrification globally.”
That means manufacturers such as GM and Ford must manufacture electric vehicles in order to compete on the world scale, Yoon says. “It’s an inevitability,” he adds.
Public Transit
Meanwhile, efforts continue to develop an all-electric fleet for local public transportation, says Dean Harris, executive director of the Western Reserve Transit Authority, or WRTA. The organization plans to invest $5 million to transform its standard bus garage along Mahoning Avenue in Youngstown into a modernized building equipped with charging stations to initially accommodate 10 EV buses.
“We have eight big EV buses coming,” Harris says. Most likely, these new EVs will arrive sometime in the beginning for 2027, shortly after the new bus garage is finished, he says.
Harris says WRTA has four smaller EV transit vans on site, while its EV autonomous shuttle will be activated soon.
WRTA has said its ultimate objective is develop an all-electric fleet at its downtown location – an effort he considers challenging given the current funding environment.
“Our biggest concern is funding on the federal level,” he says. “The current administration – they’re not too keen on electric buses. It might take a little longer, so it’s slowing, but not dead.”