Aside from the income requirements, taxpayer is eligible for the $7,500 EV tax credits if the car purchased has met the two requirements:
- Critical mineral requirement - $3,750
- Battery component requirement - $3,750
Tesla "
made/assembled" their batteries (4680/2170) in the US. This is why Tesla will be able to meet the second requirement which will make their cars
eligible for the $3,750 credits.
However, the first test require that the "critical
minerals" in the battery have to have certain
% in terms of value (a) to be "
extracted or processed or recycled"
(b) in the US or other country with a free trade agreement with the US. As you can imagine, most of these minerals are coming from the countries that do not have free trade agreement with the US.
To identify the activities in the process
(b) above is not an easy task and will involve all the suppliers in the process. I think that's why it takes so long for the treasury to come up with the guidance on this.
Regardless what the guidance treasury will come up with, it is presummed that none of the auto makers will meet this requirement. That's why it is anticipated that Tesla buyers will lose the $3,750 credits when the treasury guidance on the critical mineral requirement is released.
If you are interested, here is the treasury white paper that I based off.