With the Climate Bill that includes funding for EV buying incentives approaching its final round of voting and news about possible details on the funding running rampant, I will attempt to consolidate as much knowledge as possible into one place.
First of all, I and others here at Teslarati have written numerous articles covering EV incentives. These articles will help you understand how incentives have been voted on recently and how EV incentives in the US compared to the rest of the world. Some of the most notable include this article about US State level EV incentives, this article about how the “union made” incentive was scrapped earlier this year and this opinion piece about what Elon Musk thinks about EV incentives and how he hopes the US will move away from ICE vehicles.
A personal favorite from outside of Teslarati, Martyn Lee of the EV News Daily podcast has laid out a couple of perspectives from Twitter in one of his most recent episodes.
Martyn does a fantastic job of laying out a couple of perspectives on the EV incentives, how some are proposing to pay for them, and reading from experts examining the bill. One such expert is Tom Randall of Reuters, who has posted numerous Twitter threads on the topic. His most notable is the one linked below, where he covers the basics of incentives, who will qualify, and other notes surrounding the legislative process/votes.
Interesting EV tax credit details in the new Manchin deal: $7.5k credit per new vehicle and $4k for a used EV (or 30% of price, whichever is less). The credits expire at the end of 2032—with no manufacturer caps. A bunch of new limitations include ?1/
— Tom Randall (@tsrandall) July 28, 2022
Some important notes from the thread are that used cars will also qualify for a tax rebate of up to $4,000 (as long as your salary is below $75,000 individually or $150,000 for joint filers), and new cars will only qualify if they are under $55,000, new SUVs and trucks will have to be below $80,000, and used vehicles must cost less than $25,000 to qualify.
For those who need a consolidated explanation of what will allow a vehicle to access the incentive, u/mad691 on the r/Electric Vehicles subreddit has posted a spreadsheet that includes all current plugin models and their possible federal rebates if the bill, in its current form, passes. The sheet consists of the qualifications that manufacturers must meet for customers to access the tax rebate along the top row.
Listed on the left are the current incentives available for each model. Then the following five columns highlight whether the vehicle may qualify in the future under the new proposal. These qualifications would disqualify the vehicle from the incentives. Finally, on the right are two columns that highlight the possible rebate of the vehicle and the change in rebate from the current system (red being negative, black being positive change).
Possible Federal EV Incentives from u/Mad691 on Reddit
While the sheet is not fleshed out completely, especially looking at the battery material clause and battery component clause columns, it can at least give a sense of what vehicles may qualify and which may not. Any of the three middle columns (Car Price, Truck+SUV Price, and Assembled in America) are instant disqualifiers and represent the vast majority of disqualifications from the incentives.
Some surprising results from the table include GM’s offerings that would once again be available for the rebate, the laundry list of vehicles not assembled in the US that would no longer qualify for the tax credits, as well as the long list of PHEVs that will continue to receive the full $7,500 in tax credits despite small batteries and lackluster fuel economy (specifically looking at the Jeep Wrangler 4xe with 14 miles of EV range and the BMW X5 with 30 miles of EV range).
This news should be taken with a huge grain of salt as voting and editing the bill have not yet been completed. However, it can give a basic understanding of what incentives may become available if the bill were to pass.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
News
Tesla taps Samsung for 5G modems amid plans of Robotaxi ramp: report
The move signals Tesla’s growing focus on supply-chain diversification and next-generation communications as it prepares to scale its autonomous driving and robotaxi operations.
A report from South Korea has suggested that Samsung Electronics is set to begin supplying 5G automotive modems to Tesla. If accurate, this would mark a major expansion of the two companies’ partnership beyond AI chips and into vehicle connectivity.
The move signals Tesla’s growing focus on supply-chain diversification and next-generation communications as it prepares to scale its autonomous driving and Robotaxi operations.
Samsung’s 5G modem
As per industry sources cited by TheElec, Samsung’s System LSI division has completed development of a dedicated automotive-grade 5G modem for Tesla. The 5G modem is reportedly in its testing phase. Initial supply is expected to begin in the first half of this year, with the first deployments planned for Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet in Texas. A wider rollout to consumer vehicles is expected to follow.
Development of the modem began in early 2024 and it required a separate engineering process from Samsung’s smartphone modems. Automotive modems must meet stricter durability standards, including resistance to extreme temperatures and vibration, along with reliability over a service life exceeding 10 years. Samsung will handle chip design internally, while a partner company would reportedly manage module integration.
The deal represents the first time Samsung has supplied Tesla with a 5G vehicle modem. Tesla has historically relied on Qualcomm for automotive connectivity, but the new agreement suggests that the electric vehicle maker may be putting in some serious effort into diversifying its suppliers as connectivity becomes more critical to autonomous driving.
Deepening Tesla–Samsung ties
The modem supply builds on a rapidly expanding relationship between the two companies. Tesla previously selected Samsung’s foundry business to manufacture its next-generation AI6 chips, a deal valued at more than 22.7 trillion won and announced in mid-2025. Together, the AI chip and 5G modem agreements position Samsung as a key semiconductor partner for Tesla’s future vehicle platforms.
Industry observers have stated that the collaboration aligns with Tesla’s broader effort to reduce reliance on Chinese and Taiwanese suppliers. Geopolitical risk and long-term supply stability are believed to be driving the shift in no small part, particularly as Tesla prepares for large-scale Robotaxi deployment.
Stable, high-speed connectivity is essential for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, supporting real-time mapping, fleet management, and continuous software updates. By pairing in-vehicle AI computing with a new 5G modem supplier, Tesla appears to be tightening control over both its hardware stack and its global supply chain.
Tesla’s new Full Self-Driving pricing strategy will eliminate one recurring complaint that many owners have had in the past: FSD transfers.
In the past, if a Tesla owner purchased the Full Self-Driving suite outright, the company did not allow them to transfer the purchase to a new vehicle, essentially requiring them to buy it all over again, which could obviously get pretty pricey.
This was until Q3 2023, when Tesla allowed a one-time amnesty to transfer Full Self-Driving to a new vehicle, and then again last year.
Tesla is now allowing it to happen again ahead of the February 14th deadline.
The program has given people the opportunity to upgrade to new vehicles with newer Hardware and AI versions, especially those with Hardware 3 who wish to transfer to AI4, without feeling the drastic cost impact of having to buy the $8,000 suite outright on several occasions.
Now, that issue will never be presented again.
Last night, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on X that the Full Self-Driving suite would only be available in a subscription platform, which is the other purchase option it currently offers for FSD use, priced at just $99 per month.
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Having it available in a subscription-only platform boasts several advantages, including the potential for a tiered system that would potentially offer less expensive options, a pay-per-mile platform, and even coupling the program with other benefits, like Supercharging and vehicle protection programs.
While none of that is confirmed and is purely speculative, the one thing that does appear to be a major advantage is that this will completely eliminate any questions about transferring the Full Self-Driving suite to a new vehicle. This has been a particular point of contention for owners, and it is now completely eliminated, as everyone, apart from those who have purchased the suite on their current vehicle.
Now, everyone will pay month-to-month, and it could make things much easier for those who want to try the suite, justifying it from a financial perspective.
The important thing to note is that Tesla would benefit from a higher take rate, as more drivers using it would result in more data, which would help the company reach its recently-revealed 10 billion-mile threshold to reach an Unsupervised level. It does not cost Tesla anything to run FSD, only to develop it. If it could slice the price significantly, more people would buy it, and more data would be made available.
News
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y dominates U.S. EV market in 2025
The figures were detailed in Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y continued to overwhelmingly dominate the United States’ electric vehicle market in 2025. New sales data showed that Tesla’s two mass market cars maintained a commanding segment share, with the Model 3 posting year-to-date growth and the Model Y remaining resilient despite factory shutdowns tied to its refresh.
The figures were detailed in Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report.
Model 3 and Model Y are still dominant
According to the report, Tesla delivered an estimated 192,440 Model 3 sedans in the United States in 2025, representing a 1.3% year-to-date increase compared to 2024. The Model 3 alone accounted for 15.9% of all U.S. EV sales, making it one of the highest-volume electric vehicles in the country.
The Model Y was even more dominant. U.S. deliveries of the all-electric crossover reached 357,528 units in 2025, a 4.0% year-to-date decline from the prior year. It should be noted, however, that the drop came during a year that included production shutdowns at Tesla’s Fremont Factory and Gigafactory Texas as the company transitioned to the new Model Y. Even with those disruptions, the Model Y captured an overwhelming 39.5% share of the market, far surpassing any single competitor.
Combined, the Model 3 and Model Y represented more than half of all EVs sold in the United States during 2025, highlighting Tesla’s iron grip on the country’s mass-market EV segment.
Tesla’s challenges in 2025
Tesla’s sustained performance came amid a year of elevated public and political controversy surrounding Elon Musk, whose political activities in the first half of the year ended up fueling a narrative that the CEO’s actions are damaging the automaker’s consumer appeal. However, U.S. sales data suggest that demand for Tesla’s core vehicles has remained remarkably resilient.
Based on Kelley Blue Book’s Q4 2025 U.S. Electric Vehicle Sales Report, Tesla’s most expensive offerings such as the Tesla Cybertruck, Model S, and Model X, all saw steep declines in 2025. This suggests that mainstream EV buyers might have had a price issue with Tesla’s more expensive offerings, not an Elon Musk issue.
Ultimately, despite broader EV market softness, with total U.S. EV sales slipping about 2% year-to-date, Tesla still accounted for 58.9% of all EV deliveries in 2025, according to the report. This means that out of every ten EVs sold in the United States in 2025, more than half of them were Teslas.
Tesla taps Samsung for 5G modems amid plans of Robotaxi ramp: report
Tesla Full Self-Driving pricing strategy eliminates one recurring complaint
