Which are the excluded taxes, discounts and advantages to have a hybrid car in US?

[mandrei83]

Hello,

Just for my curiosity, I want to know how US/Californian Government stimulate you there to buy hybrid cars. Let's give some concrete examples starting with the buy of the car, until EOL (End of Life) of the car: acquisition tax reduction, pollution taxes, road taxes, highway advantages, city advantages, company hybrid cars, leasing of hybrids and.. tax subventions from your US Government.

Let me give you some examples from what I know:

ROMANIA:
-the registration tax, police authentication (if you buy a second-hand car from Germany and you bring it to Romania, for example) and number plates cost all about 150USD. For a normal car with 1.8l engine would be about 500USD. That's not a big deal.
-it may be the program for older cars, where you bring your older car (more than 8 years) and the Romanian Government gives you about 1.300USD to buy your new car, after you'll get a lot of nerves trying to solve with radiation/recycling of the older car.

ITALY:
-Italian Government gives you an advance of 2.500EUR for the older car to recycle it and another 2.500EUR because you've buy a hybrid! That's really nice. In this case, a Honda Insight cost 19.900EUR with all taxes.. and for an Italian citizen who bring his old car to recycling, the car cost 14.900EUR!

UK:
-from what I know, passing through the center of London, you have to pay daily a tax of 15GBP. In hybrid's case, you don't have to pay anything.

US:
-you are allowed to drive on highways on Emergency bands or to stop there more than 5 minutes?? One of my friend told be, but I can't believe this, until I ask an American guy, Prius owner.


How about US? Which are all the advantages of having a hybrid car? I want to be informed about this and also to inform other buyers of hybrid cars what advantages are in other countries, excluding mine..

Most of people prefer to buy powerful and luxury cars, not a Prius, which they say that looks like a cheese. I love my Prius anyway!



Andrei

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by mandrei83

US:
-you are allowed to drive on highways on Emergency bands or to stop there more than 5 minutes?? One of my friend told be, but I can't believe this, until I ask an American guy, Prius owner.

If I understand correctly, I would say no - you are not allowed to drive on the median or shoulders because the car is a hybrid - no vehicles are allowed to do this. You are only allowed to stop on the shoulder or median in an emergency and you should move as soon as possible.

You are allowed to use HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes aka carpool lanes in California if you have a special decal which were issued to qualifying hybrids that have FE rating of 45 mpg or higher. This program will be ended Jan 2011 unless it is renewed by the California legislature (not likely).

Originally Posted by mandrei83

How about US? Which are all the advantages of having a hybrid car? I want to be informed about this and also to inform other buyers of hybrid cars what advantages are in other countries, excluding mine..

Most of people prefer to buy powerful and luxury cars, not a Prius, which they say that looks like a cheese. I love my Prius anyway!



Andrei

There was a Federal Tax Credit allowed for certain hybrid models. The original tax credit was $3000 USD until Toyota sold 60,000 units, then the credit was phased out over the next year. I received $1575 tax credit for buying my Prius in Feb 2007.

New Energy Tax Credit for Hybrids

In California, besides the use of HOV lanes explained above, some cities allow free parking for hybrids which have the Clean Air decal.

LA City Council Approves Free Parking For Hybrids - cbs2.com

In California, most vehicles must be tested for emissions every 2 years (biannual testing). The test costs between $30 - $60 + $8.25 for the smog certificate (even though it is electronically transmitted - there is no actual certificate for the $8.25 ). Certain hybrids including the Prius are exempt from smog testing until at least Jan 2010.

Hybrid-Electric Vehicles Exempted From Initial Smog Check

[wfolta]

To the OP: With the exception of the Federal tax credit, described above, most benefits for a hybrid come from state laws or even local ordinances, so it will be hard to say anything US-wide. (Unfortunately, as described, the tax credit's long gone for the Prius.)

Originally Posted by dogfriend

If I understand correctly, I would say no - you are not allowed to drive on the median or shoulders because the car is a hybrid - no vehicles are allowed to do this. You are only allowed to stop on the shoulder or median in an emergency and you should move as soon as possible.

You are allowed to use HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes aka carpool lanes in California if you have a special decal which were issued to qualifying hybrids that have FE rating of 45 mpg or higher. This program will be ended Jan 2011 unless it is renewed by the California legislature (not likely).

I'd add: in some areas, the HOV lanes are shoulders during non-peak hours. So that may be what the OP's friend was describing. (Around here, the left lane becomes the HOV lane, and the right shoulder becomes an extra lane.)

To clarify: HOV lanes are restricted to vehicles containing 2 or 3 (HOV-2, HOV-3), or perhaps more passengers during certain hours.

Here in Virginia, if we get Clean Fuel license plates (only certain vehicles, like the Prius are eligible), we can drive in most HOV lanes with only a single occupant. We are also exempt (seemingly for the life of the car, but maybe I'm wrong on that) from emissions inspections.

I paid extra for the Clean Fuel plates because we live inside the Beltway, and during rush hour, the nearby interstate I-66 is unique in that ALL lanes are HOV. I don't particularly want to get into an HOV lane, I just want to be able to get onto that road.

In Baltimore, Maryland, there are some city-owned parking lots that give free parking for hybrids, and I've seen a couple of "reserved for hybrid" parking spaces at the local mall (private property, not government-owned).