By Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News

Michael MacGillivray had planned for months to replace his gas-powered Ford Bronco with an electric vehicle.

As a certified public accountant, he followed congressional debate over President Donald Trump’s sprawling spending and tax legislation, which would end $7,500 tax credits for some first-time EV buyers. When Trump signed the legislation into law July 4, MacGillivray knew he needed to act.

“I was leaning toward the EV regardless, but the tax credit pushed me over the edge,” MacGillivray told The Detroit News while driving his new Tesla Model Y back from a road trip to Toronto.

The 25-year-old Ann Arbor resident is among a surge of what analysts call “fence sitters” buying EVs in the final weeks before the tax credit expires Sept. 30. And automakers are taking advantage of the short-term boost to clear inventory in anticipation of at least a temporary drop in interest once the credits end.

Hyundai’s electrified sales jumped 50% compared to July 2024. Combined sales of electrified Toyota and Lexus models rose 6.7% to 90,426. July was General Motors Co.’s best-ever month for its electrified fleet, according to the company, which said it sold more than 19,000 EVs, a 115% increase from July 2024.

“Everybody wants them right now before the tax credits go away,” said Walter Tutak, dealer trade inventory manager at Champion-Hargreaves Chevrolet dealership in Royal Oak.

Honda Motor Co. reaped a record July in electrified sales, in part because “the impending expiration of EV tax credits led some buyers to pull ahead across the industry,” Jessika Laudermilk, assistant vice president of U.S. sales at Honda, said in an email. The automaker’s Prologue EV recorded 6,318 sales in July, up 82.7% year over year.

“We expect to see this continuing in August and September,” Laudermilk said.

Automakers are not required to report monthly sales, and Tesla Inc. did not disclose data in response to a Detroit News inquiry.

Stellantis NV, which also did not report July sales data, is one of many automakers offering aggressive incentives on both EVs and plug-in hybrids, along with prominent language on its brand sites trying to spur customers into action: “Get your EV incentive while you can!” Jeep says on its website in a promotion for the all-electric Wagoneer S.

“Brands are going crazy with incentives, and it’s good for consumers,” said Lauren Fix, CEO of the consulting firm Automotive Aspects.

Auto reviewer Anton Wahlman, a former technology analyst, said the next few weeks will be “an inventory cleaning event.”

Sam Fiorani, industry analyst at AutoForecast Solutions, said manufacturers will compensate for the loss of the EV tax credit with their own incentives to keep prices stable: “It’s unlikely that you’ll see the prices drop, but you will see leasing deals or customer rebates.”

Analysts expect manufacturers to further scale back production of EVs to match limited interest among buyers, especially as Trump works to remove federal emissions requirements that pressured companies to make those models regardless of market demand.

Stellantis has already started dialing back production of its electrified offerings, with dealers prevented from ordering several models.

“In line with our retail priorities and the plans shared with our dealer network, we are working to ensure our production plan is in line with consumer demand,” according to a statement from the company.

After the industry more broadly scales down production over the course of several years, “they’re only going to sell some of them if they can make money on them,” Wahlman said.

“So there will be far fewer models and they will be priced much higher,” he said.

“In the midterm, you’re going to see EVs disappearing from the marketplace,” Fiorani added. “Currently, they’re encouraged by emissions (regulations) and by the federal incentives, but once those two things go away, then there’s no real incentive for a manufacturer to add a new model to the lineup in a market that’s already crowded with EVs.”

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Automakers say they remain committed to EVs in the long run, although many are shifting investments toward hybrids and gas-powered, money-making trucks and SUVs.

“Toyota’s commitment to vehicle electrification is just one important element of its effort to help the world build a zero-carbon future,” Toyota Motor North America spokesperson Derrick Justin Brown said in an email. “Through the current industry shifts, including those around EV tax credits, that commitment remains strong, and there are no current plans to alter our approach.”

Laudermilk said Honda views electrification as “a marathon, not a sprint.”

“We remain focused on expanding our electrified lineup, utilizing our flexible manufacturing to produce ICE, hybrid-electric and battery electric models on the same production lines to meet the needs of our customers,” Laudermilk said.

GM executives have said the company will continue to pursue EV innovations, even as it beefs up its gas-powered fleet with investments at Orion Assembly in Michigan, Tonawanda Propulsion in New York and Toledo Propulsion Systems in Ohio.

Ford Motor Co. last year canceled plans to produce a three-row, battery-powered SUV at its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, planning instead to build gas-powered Super Duty pickups there starting next year. And the Dearborn automaker this month delayed the launch of its next-generation electric van and electric full-size pickup, though it also said it would invest $2 billion to build a midsize electric pickup at Louisville Assembly.

Stellantis this summer announced plans to bring back 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engines in Jeep SUVs and Ram light-duty pickups as Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress slashed emission and fuel economy standards that had forced the engine’s slow demise in the first place.

Despite the more favorable regulatory environment for gas engines, Fiorani said automakers neglect electrification at their peril.

“A good manufacturer will see that this is the wave of the future and will invest in it,” he said. “A short-term manufacturer will go back to building just ICE vehicles and ignore the future of EV.”

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Topgolf in Woodbury has confirmed its October opening, according to a city development official.

The Woodbury location, on Bielenberg Drive near Interstates 94 and 494, will feature 102 outdoor climate-controlled hitting bays on three levels, with lounge furniture or high-top tables for groups to interact with other players, according to Topgolf. It will also use Topgolf’s Toptracer technology, which traces the flight path, distance and metrics of golf balls. It will be Minnesota’s second Topgolf, following the Brooklyn Center location that opened in 2018.

Topgolf and the neighboring Main Event, a soon-to-be-constructed arcade and entertainment hub owned by Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, are expected to engage community members and attract visitors from across the region, said assistant community development director and city planner Eric Searles.

“Woodbury has been actively pursuing more recreation and play-type uses in the community,” Searles said.

Topgolf goes beyond golfing to create an entertainment experience that includes a full-service bar and restaurant, more than 140 HDTVs, fire pits, music and year-round family-friendly programming, according to Topgolf. Private event spaces and a rooftop terrace can also be rented out for celebrations and events.

Topgolf Woodbury alone is anticipated to hire more than 300 people, according to Searles.

Meanwhile, a PGA Tour Superstore, which sells sports equipment, apparel and more, opened in June at 1555 Queens Drive, about a mile and a half south of the TopGolf location. And ParT Barn, a new restaurant and golf-simulator venue, will open later this year about two miles east in Lake Elmo.

“That presence will ultimately benefit the surrounding businesses and add more job opportunities within the community,” Searles said.

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Today is Saturday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2025. There are 130 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug 23, 1927, amid worldwide protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery. (On the 50th anniversary of their executions, then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted.)

Also on this date:

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.

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In 1775, Britain’s King George III proclaimed the American colonies to be in a state of “open and avowed rebellion.”

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.

In 1970, the Salad Bowl strike began, organized by farm labor leader Cesar Chavez; between 5,000 to 10,000 laborers walked off the job, leading to the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history.

In 2000, A Gulf Air Airbus crashed into the Persian Gulf near Bahrain, killing all 143 people aboard.

In 2003, former priest John Geoghan (GAY’-gun), the convicted child molester whose prosecution sparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church nationwide, died after another inmate attacked him in a Massachusetts prison.

In 2011, a magnitude-5.8 earthquake centered near Mineral, Virginia, the strongest on the East Coast since 1944, caused cracks in the Washington Monument and damaged Washington National Cathedral.

In 2013, a military jury convicted Maj. Nidal Hasan in the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that claimed 13 lives; the Army psychiatrist was later sentenced to death.

In 2020, a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, seven times as officers tried to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant; the shooting left Blake partially paralyzed and triggered several nights of violent protests.

In 2022, a jury convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a victory for prosecutors in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Vera Miles is 96.
Actor Barbara Eden is 94.
Football Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen is 91.
Ballerina Patricia McBride is 83.
Former Surgeon General Antonia Novello is 81.
Singer-songwriter Linda Thompson is 78.
Author and motivational speaker Rudy Ruettiger is 77.
Actor Shelley Long is 76.
Actor-singer Rick Springfield is 76.
Noor al-Hussein (Queen Noor of Jordan) is 74.
Film composer Alexandre Desplat is 64.
Actor Jay Mohr is 55.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is 54.
Actor Ray Park is 51.
Actor Scott Caan is 49.
Rock singer Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) is 47.
Actor Joanne Froggatt is 45.
Olympic gold medal swimmer Natalie Coughlin Hall is 43.
Musician Lil Yachty is 28.

Benson Boone is a ridiculous young man.

That was the main takeaway from the 23-year-old’s performance Friday night at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center, the debut show of his first all-arena tour that will see him play more than 50 cities across the next three months.

The Washington state native emerged in 2021 as a competitor on “American Idol” who found a burst of self confidence that led to him leaving the show, despite landing in the Top 24.

It was a smart move, given that it’s been ages since “Idol” has produced an actual star. Boone, or someone managing him, realized it made far more sense to forgo network television and lean into his increasing TikTok popularity, which helped fuel interest in his early singles “Ghost Town” and “In the Stars.”

But it was last year’s “Beautiful Things” that blew Boone out of teenage phones and into the mainstream. And Boone was more than ready for the spotlight, with a sound that filtered ’70s glam rock and sleek ’80s pop through a modern sensibility and a flamboyant look clearly modeled after his hero Freddie Mercury (even if he comes off more like the late magician Doug Henning). Think an American Harry Styles with more teeth and bigger muscles.

Oh, and he does back flips.

Friday night, Boone pulled out every trick in his repertoire, radiating with the intensity of a vaudeville-era star playing to the cheapest seats in the house. He’s got a strong, if not particularly nuanced, voice that served him well over the lustful screams from the audience, which was heavy on young women and families.

In addition to his back flips (I lost count at five), Boone spent the 95-minute show sprinting up and down the catwalk that stretched across the arena floor, stopping to grab fans’ hands in the pit below and staring directly into the cameras that followed his every move, beaming his mug to the entire sold-out arena.

Yes, Benson Boone tries really hard. He was fun to watch at times, but he got tiring. The music business is full of brooding cool kids afraid to show too much effort, so I suppose it’s refreshing to see someone wholeheartedly embrace fame at its biggest, brightest and tackiest. But, man, even Katy Perry would look at this guy and suggest he tone it down a bit.

As for the music, the tour is built around the tracks from his sophomore album “American Heart,” which hit streaming some six weeks after the tour went on sale and fans paid hundreds for tickets. Boone has said Bruce Springsteen was a key influence on the record, but hearing the songs live only reinforced that he sounds more like the Killers’ plastic take on the Boss. (The Killers have made exactly one great album and that’s “Hot Fuss.” I will die on this hill.)

Take “Mystical Magical,” which “SNL” fans might remember from Boone’s appearance on the show in May. Its rinky dink synths sound torn from Styles’ far superior “As It Was,” while the chorus interpolates the hook from Olivia Newton-John’s classic “Physical.” That’s not even a novel move, as Doja Cat did the exact same thing with “Physical” just four years ago on the, yes, far superior “Kiss Me More.”

Even more so live than on record, “Momma Song” sounded like a half dozen other tracks in Boone’s repertoire. Like much of his material, it was all surface and no depth, a sparkly bauble made of tin foil.

Then again, I don’t know that the crowd cared that his songs all start to blend together. They came to see Benson Boone belt his tunes, preen for the cameras and do back flips. He delivered on all three fronts.

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