incentives
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If you live in California you have access to several state EV incentives—although one of them will soon be halved.
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2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid $249 lease tops June plug-in, hybrid, electric car deals
Even as 2019 models are cleared away, the 2020 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is eligible for a great new lease deal.
Bengt Halvorson -
Austria to let drivers of electric cars go faster
Austria is offering would-be electric-car owners (and current ones) a tempting incentive to go tailpipe-emissions-free: permission to drive faster than those with gasoline, diesel, or hybrid vehicles in certain conditions. Under a recently approved amendment to the country’s speed limits...
Bengt Halvorson -
Tesla sales: how much do rebates matter to buyers in Canada?
The government of Ontario amended its plug-in electric vehicle incentive program in March, eliminating incentives for vehicles with a recommended price of $75,000 or more. What effect will this have on demand for Tesla’s Model S and X? Two years ago, this site analyzed the impacts on...
Matthew Klippenstein -
Here's how California's carpool (HOV-lane) stickers work now: updated
For years, green-car buyers in California have enjoyed a special perk: access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes that can whiz past gridlock, even with just a single occupant. Now, updates to the rules signed into law in October by Governor Jerry Brown will likely change the way owners and shoppers...
Aaron Cole -
Mitsubishi helps Costa Rica toward goal of Latin American electric-car pioneer
Costa Rica isn't what you'd call a bastion of automotive sales. Wedged between Nicaragua and Panama, the country is home to 4.8 million people who buy just 154,000 vehicles annually—less than 1 percent of U.S. vehicle sales each year. But that won't deter the Costa Rican government from...
John Voelcker -
With Tesla likely to hit 200,000 electric cars sold in the U.S. later this year, it will begin a phasedown process during which the income-tax credits available to its buyers start to dwindle on a set schedule. General Motors is likely to hit the same cap a couple of quarters after Tesla. Now those two companies are lobbying for an expansion of the tax credit—and they've been joined by some allies from an entirely different industry. DON'T MISS: Tesla expects 200,000th U.S. sale this year, electric-car tax credits to start phaseout CEO Mary Barra of General Motors called on Congress two...
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India plan for converting to electric cars by 2030 may get trimmed, a lot
Two years ago, the government of India proposed a remarkable and ambitious goal: make every new vehicle coming onto its roads electric by 2030. The plan was largely a response to some of the world's highest levels of hazardous air pollution in its cities, higher in many cases than the legendary...
John Voelcker -
More ways to get $10K off BMW i3 electric car: new utilities add discount
How badly do you want to buy a BMW i3 electric car? Initially, it looked like you'd have to move to areas of California where Southern California Edison would be your electric utility. But soon enough, those areas expanded to other parts of California, some areas of New Jersey where PSE&G...
John Voelcker -
Tesla expects 200,000th U.S. sale this year, electric-car tax credits to start phaseout
It's been a topic of discussion for years: What will happen when a carmaker reaches the cap on U.S. sales of electric cars that qualify for the full federal tax credit of $7,500? That number is 200,000; after the rest of that calendar quarter and the one following, the credit is halved for a...
John Voelcker -
California now testing pre-approved electric-car rebates in San Diego
It's clear that incentives to buy specific cars work best when they can be applied directly at the time of sale. That's why purchase rebates are widely preferred by electric-car advocates to tax credits, which may take up to 15 months to be usable, depending on the timing of the purchase and tax...
John Voelcker -
Will GM or Tesla buyers lose electric-car tax credits first? (updated)
A major contributor to electric-car sales is the program under which buyers of new electric cars qualify for a federal income-tax credit of up to $7,500. But these tax credits are not unlimited. Once a manufacturer reaches sales of 200,000 plug-in electric cars (after December 31, 2009), the...
Stephen Edelstein -
Fears that Congress would kill the federal tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric car were laid to rest in December when that incentive survived the $1.5 trillion tax-cut bill. Now Congress has added back a handful of other tax credits related to electric cars and greener transportation in the $400 billion budget bill it passed in the wee hours of Friday morning, quickly signed by the president. The 652-page Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (HR 1892) restores a tax credit for installation of alternative-vehicle fueling property that had expired at the end of 2016. DON'T MISS: Congress...
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Virginia state-tax rebate up to $3,500 for electric-car purchase dies in subcommittee
Virginia is for lovers—and electric-car advocated had hoped that it would soon be for lovers of electric cars and plug-in hybrids, too. A bill proposed in mid-January by Virginia House Delegate David A. Reid [D-32nd] would have granted a state-tax rebate of up to $3,500 to buyers of plug-in...
Mark Stevenson -
When do electric-car tax credits expire? (updated for 2018)
In less than three months, personal income-tax returns or 2017 will be due for most U.S. adults. Some of those taxpayers will have bought a plug-in electric car last year, knowing that the Federal government offers an income-tax credit to help reduce the effective cost. But as more and more...
John Voelcker -
Georgia to take second try at electric-car tax credit after killing first one
Several years ago, Georgia offered a generous state-tax credit for purchase of a zero-emission vehicle, and its sales of electric cars boomed. When state politics interceded to kill that credit in 2015—and add a new tax specifically on those same vehicles—the state became a case study...
John Voelcker -
Why everyone leases electric cars rather than buying (and maybe you should too)
Leases are a minority of overall car sales in the U.S., though the numbers soar for pricier luxury vehicles versus the less expensive, plain-Jane vehicles that serve as daily transport for most drivers. That rule flips for electric cars: Most pricey Teslas appear to be purchased outright, while...
John Voelcker -
Colorado moves to put more electric cars onto state roads faster
A state at the forefront of U.S. electric-vehicle adoption has set an ambitious goal of nearly 1 million plug-in electric cars on its roads by 2030. Colorado, which counted 13,000 electric vehicles on the road at the end of 2017, rolled out an aggressive plan this week to achieve that goal. Its...
Mark Stevenson -
After announcing it would ban the sale of fossil-fuel vehicles by 2030, the world's second-most populous country plans to support that goal through private and corporate partnerships and government incentives. India's decision to end fossil-fuel sales in the country comes with unique challenges. One is a per-capita annual income of just $1,670, but another is the fact 50 million homes in India have no electricity. Still, the Indian government is forging ahead with its plan and automakers are working together to achieve the goal. DON'T MISS: Electric cars about to be profitable, says India's...
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Could improving electric-car tax credit be possible even with today's politics?
Rather to the surprise of electric-car advocates, the massive tax bill passed by the U.S. Congress in December did not eliminate the federal tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. That credit lets buyers take a credit of $2,500 to $7,500 on their income-tax filing in the year of...
John Voelcker -
China extended tax breaks on hybrids and plug-in electric vehicles through 2020
As China stares down climate change and smog alerts in numerous cities, the central government has extended its tax rebates for hybrid and electric vehicles for another three years. Announced on December 27, the move is one of many recently that will eventually see traditional internal-combustion...
Mark Stevenson -
In an ideal world, this is how electric-car tax credits should work
The tax reform bill likely to be voted on by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives retained a number of provisions originally slated to be cut from the tax code. Among them was the federal income-tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. Three carmakers—General Motors...
John Voelcker -
Electric-car tax credit retained in Congressional tax reform bill: confirmed (update)
We'll likely never know whether it was the influence of auto lobbyists, pressure from the actual public, or a letter signed by two dozen mayors. But however the sausage was made, it appears that the U.S. income-tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle will not be killed after all...
John Voelcker -
Why China will beat U.S. in electric-car battle: urgency, regulations
As the electric-vehicle market matures and more global automakers commit to building battery-powered cars, one driving force has emerged to lead the pack. With apologies to the title of a comedy from half a century ago ... The Chinese Are Coming. That's the assertion made by old China hand Michael...
Mark Stevenson