Rivian, Lucid, Scout aren’t counting on Dems to restore EV incentives

Leaders of several U.S. electric vehicle manufacturers said they’re not counting on increased federal support for their businesses once Democrats gain control of Congress in January, but they said they’ll gladly take it if it does happen. 

That was the overall sentiment from CEOs of Rivian Automotive, Lucid Group and EV startup Scout Motors during interviews with CNBC after Democrats’ historic midterm election wins.

“We’ve honestly constructed Scout from day one to be in an environment where we’re not going to count on, let’s say, legislation or count on things that may or may not be there,” Scout CEO Scott Keogh, an automotive veteran, told CNBC on Wednesday.

EV makers have had to contend with flip-flopping support from Washington over the years. The Trump administration has ended or rolled back support for climate change initiatives and EVs that were supported by the Biden administration, including an up to $7,500 customer incentive for purchasing an EV.

Legacy automakers such as General Motors and EV startups alike had counted on such credits to help them boost their sales and assist in electric vehicle profitability. But now they don’t have that same level of federal assistance.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said it’s his hope that the Democratic-controlled Congress and Republican President Donald Trump can find middle ground to make progress for the EV industry, but Rivian’s not counting on that.

“We try not to plan for those sort of things. The reality is it’s probably going to have less of an impact than we think,” Scaringe said Nov. 6 following the election results. “I think we’re going to actually have a lot of challenges getting things done.”

Fellow EV manufacturer Lucid, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is taking a similar approach.

“You know, they say, ‘Plan for the worst and … hope for the best.’ That’s all we can say,” Lucid CEO Silvio Napoli told CNBC on Monday. “Anything positive, we’ll take it.”

The lack of expected support comes as Democrats seem to be more focused on hot topics such as healthcare and data centers rather than climate change and support for alternative energy technologies such as EVs. 

CNBC previously reported that House Democrats plan to bring to the floor bills reinstating the enhanced health insurance subsidies that expired under the GOP-held Congress and reversing the Medicaid cuts Trump signed into law last year. They also plan to focus on oversight of the Trump administration and affordability.

Rachel McCleery, executive director of the nonprofit policy advisory Coalition for Reimagined Mobility at SAFE, said she believes affordability concerns also could include the cost of vehicles, including EVs.

“I fully expect there will be legislative debates over what to do moving forward, including on EV and EV supply chain incentives,” McCleery, a former U.S. Department of Treasury senior advisor and Ford Motor policy director, said. “Bringing down the cost of vehicles for U.S. consumers is top of mind for Democratic policymakers, and electric vehicles are a critical aspect of this agenda because of the multiple challenges greater EV adoption solves for.”

Scout’s Keogh said if legislators decide to offer any type of support, he would prefer it to be for EV production, which could then have a trickle-down effect on vehicle pricing and help companies amid inflated costs. 

“I always prefer it on the production side,” Keogh said. “Anything that can drive down production cost is going to, of course, get passed along to the customer.”

Affordability has been a concern for EV adoption as the vehicles typically cost more than traditional models with internal combustion engines.  

Sales of EVs spiked last year ahead of the Trump administration ending the up to $7,500 incentive after September 2025, but have since come down from that high.

Cox Automotive reports the average price for a new electric vehicle as of September was more than $54,800, according to the most recent available data. That compared to the average overall industry at just over $51,100 last month.

“Ultimately, incentives can help accelerate adoption, but the industry can’t build its long-term strategy around them,” Stephanie Valdez Streaty, Cox director of industry insight, said Friday. “The goal has to be making EVs affordable and compelling enough that they make sense for more consumers with or without an incentive.”