Charging Station Incentives Sneak Into Tax Cut Extension Bill

As recently as last week, it became apparent that the current federal 50 percent incentive towards the cost of installing an electric car charging station would expire on the 31st December this year.

This would be particularly bad news to the vast majority of upcoming EV owners, many of whom haven't taken delivery yet, and thousands more potential owners would also lose out should they wish to install charging points in their homes. With 2011 expected to see a jump in the number of EV owners, the end of the incentive scheme looked like it was coming far too soon.

Today brings good news for those potential and current EV owners though, according to information obtained by Plugincars.com.

The controversial tax cut extension bill has been amended to include an extension to the charging station incentive for a further year, now ending on December 31st 2011. This now means that thousands more consumers could benefit from the 50 percent reduction in the cost of purchasing and installing a charging station for their electric vehicles.

The credit is offically known as the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit, and is one of a number of federal incentives designed to bring down the cost of alternative fuel motoring, joining a potential $7,500 incentive in place towards the cost of buying a new electric car, having filed your taxes. Further incentives are also available depending on the State in which you live.

Throughout 2009, the charging station incentive provided consumers with a 30 percent break, but it's unclear whether the extention into 2011 will result in a return to this figure, or whether it will remain at the 2010 50 percent level.

For a more comprehensive rundown of electric vehicle incentives, head over to our country-by country guide.

[Plug In Cars]