As expected, the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump is now reportedly looking to slash support for electric vehicle (EV) and charging programs set up by the Biden administration, along with lodging global tariffs and pushing to ease regulations on fossil-fuel emissions.
The Trump transition team is now looking at plans to ease regulations on the fossil fuel industry and to cut many EV programs, including the $7,500 EV tax credit, along with lodging tariffs on battery material imports worldwide, according to a document seen by Reuters this week.
As part of efforts to bolster the domestic supply chain for battery materials, many of which are produced in China and are heavily subsidized in the U.S., the transition team has recommended imposing tariffs on all battery materials around the world, before negotiating individual exemptions with allies, as the document shows.
“When he takes office, President Trump will support the auto industry, allowing space for both gas-powered cars and electric vehicles,” said Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for the Trump transition team, in a statement.
RELATED: U.S. Supreme Court to hear challenge on California emission rule waiver
Although Trump campaigned on promises to end the $7,500 federal EV credit and official plans to kill the subsidy were reported last month, the transition team has also called for rolling back the $7.5 billion plan passed under Biden to help aid the buildout of charging stations for EVs.
Instead, the team has said that it would shift this and other funding currently going toward making EVs more affordable toward national defense efforts, including the initiative to secure battery supplies without relying on China. The document notes that these efforts would focus on shifting money toward battery material production, as well as the “national defense supply chain and critical infrastructure.”
The document suggested that the team utilize Section 232 tariffs, which are intended to limit the import of any items related to potential national security threats. Biden recently increased tariffs on several imports related to charging technology and critical minerals for EV batteries, including graphite, “permanent magnets” used in EV motors and in military applications, and lithium-ion batteries, among others, though the tariffs were issued on economic grounds, rather than on those in national security.
The transition team is also looking to waive environmental reviews to accelerate “federally funded EV infrastructure projects,” such as those in battery production and recycling, charging deployment, and manufacturing of critical minerals. Other proposals detailed in the document include:
- Ditching federal requirements for electrifying government fleets, including Biden’s policy to mandate all federal purchases by zero-emission vehicles by the end of 2027
- Using the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. to provide financial support for U.S. batteries for EVs
- Utilizing tariffs as a “negotiating tool” to encourage other markets to consider U.S. auto exports including both gas cars and EVs
- Ending restrictions on exports of EV battery technology to countries deemed adversaries
- Ending programs for the Department of Defense attempting to buy or develop electric military vehicle options
How will ending the $7,500 EV tax credit affect Tesla? Musk calls it a benefit
While many have said that ditching the $7,500 tax credit and other policies intended to help spur on the adoption of EVs could hurt Tesla, CEO Elon Musk and others have argued that it may only benefit the company by harming other automakers even more. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said last month that the change would only “enable Tesla to further fend off competition from Detroit,” given its already decisive advantage in EV scale.
In his latest statement regarding EV subsidies, made on X last month, Musk called for the U.S. to “end all government subsidies, including those for EVs, oil and gas.”
Musk also campaigned with Donald Trump during the election and created the political action committee (PAC), dubbed America PAC, to support his candidacy financially. He has since gained a position in what the team has called the Department of Government Efficiency, and he’s expected to play a major role in the upcoming administration.
In a report last week, it was said that the Trump transition team is also considering getting rid of a mandatory reporting measure for automated driving systems, as part of a larger effort to remove regulations and push self-driving vehicle development forward more quickly. An additional report from last month also suggests that Trump is already looking to create federal rules surrounding the rollout of autonomous vehicles, expected to accelerate the deployment of commercial robotaxis and other self-driving technologies.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Analysts weigh in on Trump presidency’s effects to U.S. auto sector
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Tesla Cybercab units finally got a definitive date for when they will be able to be purchased by consumers, ending speculation regarding whether the fully autonomous vehicle would be available in the near term.
During Tesla’s third-quarter 2026 earnings call on October 21, Vice President of Engineering Lars Moravy said the company is aiming to begin delivering its purpose-built Cybercab robotaxi to customers before year-end.
🚨 In short, Cybercabs are slated to go to customers by end of the year. All units are going into Robotaxi fleet currently, per @larsmoravy
Cybercab will be “transport-as-a-service,” but vast majority of Cybercab will be “Tesla-owned,” @elonmusk says https://t.co/R8Qu8QWdmp
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 21, 2026
“We’re trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026,” Moravy said. He added that production is underway on the line at Gigafactory Texas, but “all of those are currently going to our own internal Robotaxi fleet.”
Moravy explained that as operations scale, Tesla will “mainly deliver fully designed autonomous vehicles to our customers,” with the Cybercab as the first such vehicle. Initial customer deliveries will start small while the company gains experience with delivery logistics, ownership models, fleet management, and operating autonomous vehicles outside its direct control.
CEO Elon Musk reinforced the limited nature of private sales, describing the Cybercab primarily as a “transport-as-a-service” offering rather than a personal ownership vehicle like the Model 3, Model Y, or upcoming Roadster. “The vast majority of the Cybercab stuff will be Tesla-owned and transport-as-a-service,” Musk said.
The Cybercab is a two-seater vehicle developed by Tesla without a steering wheel or pedals. It relies completely on Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite and has been in production since February. Early units have been put in Tesla’s Robotaxi service as of early September, when the company launched rides to the public. Tesla previously indicated it would aim to sell Cybercabs for about $30,000.
Unsupervised Full Self-Driving is expected to ship to consumer cars during Q2 2027, Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Head of AI, indicated during the call. Early buyers or fleet operators may receive vehicles whose autonomous operation remains geographically restricted due to lagging regulatory agencies. There are some hurdles that remain ahead of Cybercab deliveries.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported its earnings for the third quarter of 2026, marking a reasonable performance on the various financial metrics. Tesla still plans to hold a call that will field investor questions at 5:30 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. CT.
Here’s where Earnings came in:
- Total Revenues: $28.046 reported vs. $28.34B expected
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48 reported vs. $0.45 expected
- Operating Margin: 2.6 % reported vs. 2.5% expected
- Operating Income: $718M reported vs. $721M expected
- Free Cash Flow: $1.531B reported vs. ~-$4.51B expected
Tesla $TSLA Earnings Results:
Revenues: $28.046B
Non-GAAP EPS: $0.48
Operating Margin: 2.6%
Operating Income: $718M
FCF: $1.531B— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) October 21, 2026
Major Takeaways
Full Self-Driving (Supervised)
“FSD (Supervised)⁴ attach rate continued to grow, reaching over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America – our most mature market – a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. We believe that FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available, and we continue to work with regulators to get it approved in other markets.”
Tesla Semi
“We began volume production of Tesla Semi, our Class 8 heavy-duty truck. The top variant can go 500 miles at full 82,000 lbs gross combination weight while achieving an efficiency of 1.7 kWh/mile. That efficiency allows the Tesla Semi to use a third of the energy used by a comparable diesel truck to haul the same payload. In a transportation market where energy is one of the largest components of total cost per mile, this will provide a meaningful advantage to Tesla Semi operators.”
SI Compute
“We plan to reach 400 MW of SI training compute by the end of the year, supporting the development of both vehicle and humanoid robot autonomy software. Additionally, we continued construction for the Austin Fab, where we plan to start commissioning equipment in 2027.”
Robotaxi
“We began deployment of Cybercab into our Robotaxi fleet in Austin. We reached nearly two million cumulative unsupervised miles for our Robotaxi service as of the end of the quarter. Operating hours in Austin are now 6am to midnight, and we expect to reduce wait times via increased fleet supply and improvement of Robotaxi orchestration algorithms. Grok is available in Cybercab with access to Grok Bot and Connectors, which allows users to manage their inbox, calendars, files, chats and tasks – all hands free via voice command – making Cybercab a mode of transport, a productivity space and, with our entertainment options, a second living room.”
Interested in ordering a Tesla? Use my referral code for three free months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) here.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reports its earnings for Q3 today. Here’s what to expect, as the company will reveal its balance sheet after the market closes on Wednesday.
Tesla already reported deliveries just after Q3 ended, and it demolished Wall Street consensus estimates of roughly 462,000 vehicles. Tesla delivered 486,532 cars in the third quarter, which was a big beat, but was down 2.1 percent from the same quarter last year. Energy storage deployments were 13.7 GWh, up year-over-year.
Tesla showrooms picked clean ahead of Q3 end as demand looks strong
For the quarter, analysts have already compiled their predictions for what Tesla will report this afternoon:
- Total Revenues: $28.34B
- Non-GAAP EPS: $0.43
- Operating Margin: 2.5%
- Operating Income: $721M
- Free Cash Flow: ~-$4.51B
Here are a few things we are looking forward to hearing about on the call:
Automotive Gross Margin and Overall Profitability
This was 16.3 percent in Q2, down from 19.2 percent in Q1, and was impacted by warranty charges and some fading regulatory credits. Consensus implies overall gross margin near 18 percent, but a miss here would potentially reinforce concerns about pricing pressure on its vehicles.
Pay attention to energy storage margins as well, especially since Tesla missed GWh expectations, although it was still a strong quarter.
Robotaxi/Cybercab, Unsupervised FSD, and Optimus Progress
The Say questions from retail investors usually focus on these types of projects, and this quarter is no different. Scaling the Cybercab fleet beyond Austin amid the open NHTSA safety review, timeline for Unsupervised FSD in customer cars, Robotaxi unit economics, and Optimus cost per unit plus when it could start generating revenue, are all things to be looking for.
Any concrete timelines or regulatory path details will likely move the stock more than the near-term numbers. SpaceX merger speculation, which was detailed during SpaceX’s earnings call last night, may also surface, although the key details were shared last night.
Elon Musk just confirmed the Tesla and SpaceX merger step everyone was waiting for
Say Investor Questions
- How does the Cybercab fleet scale past Austin, and what’s the regulatory path outside Texas given NHTSA’s open safety review?
- When can we anticipate FSD unsupervised in customer cars?
- When will the CyberCab be available for customer purchase/ownership?
- What’s the unit economics per paid robotaxi mile, and how does it compare to the thirty-cent target?
- Tesla has acknowledged that HW3 vehicles cannot support unsupervised FSD. When will owners know whether they can upgrade their hardware for free, and when will Tesla provide a clear plan?
The full Earnings Call will be streamed this evening after market close around 5 p.m. this evening.
Tesla Cybercab gets a for sale date at last
Tesla Q3 2026 Earnings results: in-line revenues, slight beat on EPS
