The Deadly Impact Of Trump's War On EVs

This will kill thousands of people.

Aug 19, 2025

Musk didn’t fall out with Trump because of his felonies, his openly anti-democratic behaviours, the fact that he is, legally speaking, a sexual predator, or his obvious and creepy connections to Epstein. No, Elon rejected Trump when he went to war against EVs, putting Tesla’s future in jeopardy — which is another clear example of how morals totally elude the painfully egotistical Musk. But this war on EVs will kill more than just Musk’s empire, and not in the ways you might think. Let me explain.

EV sales figures are going through the roof all over the world. Globally, EV sales are up 21% from July 2025 compared to July 2024, with Europe and China taking the prominent lead. China has sold 6.5 million more EVs so far this year compared to last, which is a 29% increase. However, Europe edged ahead, with a 30% increase in EV sales after shifting 2.3 million units compared to this time last year.

But what about the US? Arguably, this is where the EV market first took off.

Well, EV sales in North America are only up by 2% compared to last year, and a significant portion of that increase came from Canada. So, what is going on?

Ultimately, EVs have a significant global supply chain. So, even if the vehicle, motor and batteries are built in the US, the raw materials, like lithium and aluminium, need to be imported. But often, entire components are imported to the US, given that producing them in countries which support manufacturing is far cheaper. As such, a whopping 60% of the components of US-made EVs, like Teslas, are actually imported.

By comparison, because they require simpler materials and manufacturing, and there is an industry legacy surrounding them, around 30% of US-made combustion vehicle components are imported.

So, when Trump rolled out his moronic tariffs, EVs went up in price far more than combustion vehicles. This wasn’t just because they rely more on foreign manufacturing, but because these tariffs hit the country’s producing EV materials and components particularly hard.

The main factor driving up EV sales is how much cheaper they are now. Five years ago, the “cheapest” usable EV was the base Model 3. For over £40,000, you got a 254-mile WLTP range and a 10% to 80% charge time of 21 minutes (but in real life, it was closer to 30 minutes). But now, for a smidge over £26,000, I can get a Renault 5 with 256 miles of WLTP range and a realistic 33-minute 10% to 80% charge time. This means that an actually usable EV now costs the same or less than its combustion cousins. It’s no surprise people are buying them in the millions.

Trump’s idiotic tariffs not only halted that trend but also made EVs expensive, ultimately stalling EV growth in the US. Just because these tariffs have been paused or removed doesn’t change anything. Suppliers are hesitant to set up capacity and delivery to US manufacturers because they know they could get stung at any time, which complicates EV manufacturing and makes it even more expensive.

And it will get worse. Trump is moving to totally remove emissions and fuel efficiency standards in the US. That will make combustion vehicles cheaper to design and produce, widening the cost difference between them and their electric cousins in the US.

So, how is this deadly?

Well, there is the obvious climate issue. If we continue to destroy our climate and environment, our quality of life, economy and even society will be under immense stress. Some reputable studies have shown that by 2100, around 30 million people may die because of climate change.

A lot of people either don’t understand, don’t believe, can’t imagine or can’t relate to this issue, which is a significant problem. But there is a far more pressing way this impacts Americans.

Did you know traffic pollution kills more Americans per year than vehicle accidents? MIT found that 53,000 people die in the US each year from exposure to traffic pollution, while only 34,000 die from traffic collisions.

I cannot overestimate how deadly tailpipe emissions are.

There are roughly 250 million combustion cars on US roads. That means for every million combustion vehicles on the road, 212 emission-related deaths happen per year. Because the average lifespan of a combustion vehicle is 15 years, that means every million combustion vehicles sold will eventually cause 3,180 emissions-related deaths.

Given that China has increased its EV sales so far this year by 6.5 million, it has saved around 20,670 lives by reducing the number of pollution-emitting vehicles on its roads. Similarly, Europe’s 2.3 million increase has saved 7,314 lives.

If we were discussing a medication that saved that number of lives, it would be hailed as one of the most significant breakthroughs of the century.

But with US EV sales barely increasing, and combustion vehicles set to become far more polluting as legislation is ripped away, traffic pollution-related deaths in the US are set to rise.

Over the next few years, as global EV sales begin to overtake combustion vehicles globally, hundreds of thousands of people will be unknowingly saved from a painful and harrowing death by EVs. That is, except in the US, where tens of thousands will be forced into an early grave by Trump’s war on EVs.

We have lived with an invisible, deadly curse for decades. EVs are the perfect solution, allowing us to eliminate this unnecessary loss. Trump’s anti-intellectualism, cronyism and corporate profiteering are ensuring the US will face this curse for a long time to come.

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Sources: PC Mag, QZ, Global Fleet, FRBC, Hertz, EV Database, EV Database, MPI, OAC