$35B in US EV, clean energy projects vanished in 2025 – here’s what broke
Businesses walked away from $5.1 billion in large-scale factories and clean energy projects in December alone – a stark finish to a year in which cancellations finally overtook new investment in the US clean energy sector. By the end of 2025, nearly $35 billion in clean energy investments had been canceled or downsized nationwide, taking more than 38,000 current and future jobs with them, according to new tracking from E2.
More money going out than coming in
For the first time since 2022, more clean energy investment left US communities than came in. Companies abandoned, closed, or downsized nearly $3 in clean energy projects for every $1 they announced in 2025 – a reversal that suggests capital is growing more cautious about building factories and supply chains in the US.
Companies did continue to announce new projects during the year, but the pace slowed as cancellations and downsizing accelerated.
EV and battery projects lead the pullback
Battery and EV projects drove much of the December pullback, a notable shift for sectors that have been at the center of the US manufacturing push over the past several years. SK On scrapped $2.8 billion in planned investment and about 3,300 jobs in Tennessee, while Ford canceled a manufacturing plant in Ohio as it continues to scale back and restructure its EV operations. Advertisement - scroll for more content
Across all of 2025, companies announced just $12.3 billion in new clean energy investments, the lowest annual total since E2 began tracking projects four years ago and a sign that uncertainty around demand, costs, and policy is starting to bite. Meanwhile, cancellations and downsizing ballooned to $34.8 billion by year’s end.
A few bright spots, but nowhere near enough
There were a handful of bright spots in December, but they weren’t nearly enough to offset the losses or change the overall direction of travel. Kentucky and Texas landed the month’s newly announced projects. Ford and CATL plan to bring 2,100 jobs to Kentucky, while Anthro Energy announced 110 new battery manufacturing jobs in the state. In Texas, Toyo Solar says it will invest $26.7 million in a solar manufacturing facility, creating about 750 jobs.
Altogether, December saw $238 million in new investments and 3,060 jobs announced. That’s roughly 21 times less money flowing in than what was pulled back during the month, resulting in a net loss of just under 5,000 jobs.
Manufacturing pullbacks did the most damage
Manufacturing reversals made up the vast majority of the damage in 2025, undercutting years of momentum aimed at rebuilding domestic clean energy supply chains. Companies pulled back $30.2 billion from manufacturing facilities alone, canceling or laying off more than 38,000 jobs. The EV and battery sectors accounted for most of that downturn, each losing more than $21 billion in planned investments.
Republican districts are the biggest losers
E2’s analysis also shows that Republican-held congressional districts continue to bear the brunt of their own policies, continuing a trend seen in earlier tracking since many of the factories were in GOP-led states. Through 2025, the private sector scrapped $19.9 billion in investments that would have created nearly 24,500 jobs in Republican districts, compared with $10.6 billion and about 12,600 jobs lost in Democratic-held districts.
E2 director of research and publications Michael Timberlake said 2025 marked a clear shift for the US clean energy economy.
“When nearly $3 in investment is abandoned for every $1 announced, it means capital is no longer choosing American communities,” Timberlake said. “That investment is increasingly heading to overseas markets, signaling even more lost jobs, stalled factories, and missed opportunities for workers and regions that were counting on this growth.”
Electrek’s Take
The Trump administration’s rollback of the Biden administration’s key Inflation Reduction Act incentives, paired with renewed tariff threats, is directly reshaping where clean energy factories get built. Manufacturing at this scale relies on policy stability, long-term tax credits, clear trade rules, and confidence that today’s incentives will still exist tomorrow. Pull those supports away, and investment heads overseas.
Read more: The Trump administration just killed the US’s largest solar project
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