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Electric car sales fuel record-breaking quarter for US clean-energy investments

Data: Rhodium Group; Chart: Axios VisualsConsumers scrambling to take advantage of expiring tax credits for electric cars drove a record-breaking quarter of U.S. clean-energy investments, according to a new report.Why it matters: It shows that policy matters, especially if it's coming or going.The report by research firm Rhodium Group and MIT shows the real-time scramble of clean-energy industries in response to President Trump rescinding a range of subsidies in the recent tax law.Driving the news: Clean-energy investments in the third quarter totaled $75 billion, it finds.This was largely fueled by a surge in sales in zero-emission vehicles (mostly electric cars), which reached $31 billion, a 32% increase from the previous quarter.The federal EV tax credits expired at the end of the third quarter.Reality check: This is poised to be a high-water mark for such investments, as other numbers point to declines.Investments in the EV manufacturing sector, for example, dropped 30%, or $8 billion, compared to the same period last year.The big picture: So far, the Trump administration's policy repeals are slowing down, not wholly reversing, trends toward cleaner energy.Globally, EVs are rising in more countries even amid U.S. policy headwinds, though they remain heavily concentrated in China, the EU and U.S., according to a separate International Energy Agency study.Between the lines: It's two steps forward, one step back.Companies announced $6 billion in new clean energy manufacturing projects this past quarter — mostly for EVs and batteries.But companies also canceled $2 billion worth of projects — again, mostly battery manufacturing, Rhodium finds.What's next: Tax credits for two other types of consumer-facing cleantech — heat pumps and distributed power and storage — are set to expire at year's end.

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