Legislation to raise sales cap for federal tax credit

i would prefer to see one total number of credits, and first come first serve, instead of wasting 200,000 each on mfgs that don't care, or may show up some time in the future.

but this is better than nothing

 

Yes, just add about 2M vehicles, first come first to get them. Remove any unused of the 200K any company didn't sell yet.
Sorry, you snoozed, you lost. To get your part of the 2M, start making them now.

Mike

 

Extending poorly written legislation isn't a good idea. Requirements to be eligible for the tax-credit should be addressed. In the past, they were exploited because the goal was so vague. Why would we want to renew that?

Eligibility for the additional quantity shouldn't just be based on participation alone. There should be qualification spelled out. In other competitions you must qualify.

That next level of subsidies should be earned. Reward those that push hard to actually reach ordinary consumers.

 

In order to encourage pioneers in EV field, I think the tax credit should be for total EV's, just each brand.

If total cap is 1 million for example, and Tesla takes 500k, rest industry take 500k, that's it.

Otherwise, the policy would punish EV pioneers like Tesla.

 

Totally agree!

 

Advocating for a rush to market, rather than show support for taking time to do it right... Ugh. It's really unfortunate that narrative of "faster is better" has penetrated our society so much, most people don't even realize there is a worthy alternative available. Other markets are aware; sadly, we still haven't learned that yet.

Think about the example no can deny anymore, Volt. That turned out to be a huge waste. Why invest so much toward plug-in hybrid technology only to abandon it entirely midway through its second generation? GM didn't care enough to implement what they originally pursued, with the aid of that subsidy money, on a platform their own customers would be interested in.

Punishing automakers who avoid rhetoric and take some time to rollout something with wider appeal and greater potential in the future is quite backward. Allowing that to go unchallenged is a terrible next step. Your preference has been called out. What do you now suggest instead?

 

...the reason they have it this way, Congress originally did not want Toyota to suck up all the hybrid tax credits, so they spread the credits around to all manufacturers.

 

How would you word it?

Define ordinary.

Mike

 

So, would a car that has hundreds of thousands pre-orders, without seeing it, qualify as having appeal?
What is your criteria?

Mike

 

Even better, they should drop phev’s like Massachusetts did and go right to bev’s only.
Stop encouraging gasoline use

 

This is basic economics, the 101 first-day intro stuff. Toyota sells over 10 million vehicles annually. Those subsidized sales of "hundreds of thousands" only equates to less the 4% of their production alone. Worldwide, the total comes to almost 60 million. That perspective clearly shows us the initial sales are only low-hanging fruit... especially when you try to consider what they would have been without tax-credits through legacy channels.

 

That also is basic economics. It's whatever represents a major of customers. In this case, that's people who go to the dealership of their favorite brand and simply just shop around. They have a general idea what they would like and want if from the source they've grown to trust.

Looking at inventory & sales numbers, it's easy to see the outcome. Whatever plug-in is offered should target that same pattern. This is why each automaker was given the discretion of how their tax-credit allocation could be used.

 

There shouldn't be a cap.
Just a set date on when the incentive starts declining for everyone.

 

"A bipartisan group of lawmakers has rolled out legislation to expand the electric vehicle tax credit by 400,000 vehicles per manufacturer, a provision that would give a boost to Tesla ....But the Driving America Forward Act — whose sponsors include Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander — is on track to face opposition from the White House and some lawmakers, according to analysts. It was introduced Wednesday."

I think "bipartisan" is a little misleading. Better wording would be Red states with BEV auto manufacturing and blue states are proposing this. Not clear this is bipartisan which implies somewhat certain to progress. Utilities also support.

However, I am hoping the other "bipartisan" bill helping seniors with greater IRA flexibility passses.

Ultimately there is quite a backlash in the red states against the super-incentives for "hybrid" vehciles. Look at the penalties they want to impose on hybrid cars. It could be better for everyone if we let the technology succeed on its own accord vs. heavy handed mandates and incentives. The backlash probably has as one of it's root cause as EV advocacy extremism.

 

Turn a blind-eye to what has already played out and just allow the exploit of tax-credits to continue. Ugh.

We all witnessed GM miss opportunity after opportunity. Rather than using the knowledge & experience they gained from subsidy aided sales of Volt by rolling out that technology to vehicle types & styles their own loyal customers would prefer, it was wasted on appealing to enthusiasts.

That lack of effort to actually change what legacy automakers sell should not be encouraged and you know it.

 

susan collins?

 

And the average mpg is dropping. This is basic economics. They are going the wrong direction. Or rather it is basic math...you don't go higher by going lower.

Toyota loses ground on fuel economy as federal agencies seek rollback of vehicle standards | ACEEE

Mike

 

That is the thing about the government allowing companies to innovate as they like using the incentives. Without specifically designing and picking winners it allows a diversity of solutions to be tried. I, personally didn't like the Volt, but some people did. Good for them. They saved some gas from being used. GM learned and so did other companies about what was good and bad about the design point they chose. It certainly caused more PHEVs to have larger batteries -- including the Prime.

And GM probably got good battery longevity data from the Volt that was then rolled into the Bolt. And perhaps the feedback from the Volt helped design the Bolt.

Mike

 

Manufacturers have been given plenty of time (and incentives) to develop EVs; if after all that they figured the money is still in ICE cars (SUV, trucks, whatever) - the market has spoken and so be it.