By Keith Laing | Bloomberg
California Governor Gavin Newsom is promising to step in with a state electric-car tax credit if US President-elect Donald Trump repeals a federal subsidy after he takes office next year.
Newsom, a prominent Democrat and frequent critic of Republican politics, said in a statement Monday that he will propose rebooting a program California phased out in 2023 to provide EV buyers relief in lieu of a $7,500 tax credit targeted by Trump.
Trump has long criticized President Joe Biden administration’s efforts to subsidize electric vehicles in a bid to boost adoption of cleaner cars. His transition team is now looking to slash fuel-efficiency requirements for new cars and light trucks as part of plans to unwind Biden policies the president-elect has blasted as an “EV mandate,” Bloomberg News reported last week.
California clashed with Trump frequently on auto emission regulations during the incoming president’s first term, and the state’s leaders have made clear they are now girding for another fight. Newsom already has sought to shield the state’s policies on issues including reproductive rights, climate and immigration from potential threats under a Trump administration.
California, as well as states including Oregon and Colorado, currently are exempt from rules that preempt them from enacting their own emissions standards for new vehicles. More than a dozen states representing more than a third of the US auto market now have formally opted to follow California’s rules.
Trump in his first term targeted California’s right to set tougher gas mileage rules than the federal government. He is expected to make another attempt to roll back the California carve out under the 1970 Clean Air Act after taking office in January.
Tesla settling technology theft suit against Rivian
Tesla said last week it’s reached a “conditional” settlement in its 2020 lawsuit accusing Irvine-based Rivian Automotive of poaching employees to steal electric-vehicle trade secrets.
Tesla didn’t disclose specifics about the agreement in a court filing, but told a California state judge that it expects to seek dismissal of the case by Dec. 24 upon satisfactory completion of the terms.
Rivian declined to comment. A lawyer for Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The dispute kicked off more than four years ago when Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker accused Rivian of an “alarming pattern” of poaching its employees and stealing trade secrets. Some workers were “caught red-handed” misappropriating core technology for its next-generation batteries, Tesla later said.
Rivian has denied wrongdoing and criticized the lawsuit as an effort to suppress competition in the EV market.
Rivian and a group of its employees who defected from Tesla lost bids to get the lawsuit thrown out and a trial was set for March.
—Malathi Nayak at Bloomberg contributed to this report.
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