Shift: A podcast about mobility · Automotive News

Policy changes to slow EV sales but cost, charging improvements will buoy sector

September 14, 2025·23 min·1 clip

Elaine Buckberg says policy changes still leave EVs on a path to 40% of U.S. sales by 2030.

1. Shift: A podcast about mobility opens with Hannah Lutz and Molly Boygon discussing the Hyundai-LG Energy plant raid in Georgia and the EV market’s policy shift. 2. Hannah Lutz is the new co-host and Director of Technology and Innovation Coverage, while Molly Boygon is a tech and innovation reporter who also co-hosts the show. 3. The episode asks how the EV transition changes when federal incentives shrink, charging policy changes, and automakers face pressure to localize more manufacturing. 4. Molly Boygon says ICE rounded up more than 400 people at the Hyundai-LG Energy battery plant in Georgia and that some had overstayed visas. 5. She says some workers entered on business visas that the government said did not fit the work they were doing at the plant. 6. She also says DACA recipients and people with other immigration statuses were among those caught up in the raid. 7. Boygon says companies often bring foreign workers to high-technical plants to install equipment and get assembly lines running. 8. She says automakers have used B1 visas in ways that are common in practice even though those visas were not designed for that purpose. 9. Boygon points to past scrutiny of Tesla and says the government could either keep allowing the practice or push companies to use U.S. workers from start to finish. 10. The conversation then moves to Automotive News Congress, where Elaine Buckberg, Elizabeth Krier, and Jeff Morrison discuss EV policy, charging, and supplier strategy. 11. Krier says policy was aligned with EV growth two years ago, but now incentives, charging investment, and emissions rules are being recalibrated. 12. Krier says EV sales are up this year and particularly this quarter, with a “buy now before October 1” mentality. 13. Buckberg says Cox estimated June EV share of sales at 8.1 percent and August at 9.7 percent. 14. Buckberg says September is likely to be higher, followed by a lower fourth quarter and then a clearer trend by the second quarter. 15. Buckberg says the tax credit change, charger-credit loss, CAFE changes, and California waiver litigation all widen the near-term price gap. 16. Buckberg says EVs still have an advantage because virtually every automaker believes they are the future market and wants to win that future market. 17. Morrison says GM wants long-term planning with short-term flexibility so suppliers can support ICE and EV mix changes. 18. Morrison says GM has worked back through critical minerals and processing in the U.S. and wants to shorten and simplify supply chains. 19. The discussion stays analytical and panel-based, with direct back-and-forth between the hosts and the three guests. 20. People tracking EV policy, supplier strategy, and battery manufacturing will get the most from this episode, while listeners wanting a light or entertainment-first show may skip it.

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