Federal Tax Credit for Prime

Congress' Tax Bill Could Kill the Electric Vehicle Industry in America
Congress' Tax Bill Could Kill the Electric Vehicle Industry in America

https://search.app.goo.gl/r5rQ
Just got this blurb on my Google browser page. FWIW

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You didn't miss anything. Your 2008 Prius would have been eligible for a non-plugin hybrid car tax credit, except that the Toyota quota ran out very quickly, before your car was even built.

 

Thanks for the information, it does make me feel a little relieved. Considering how bad the approval ratings are right now, some are saying the tax plan won't go through as is too. My hope is that it keeps stalling until next year or if possible after tax season.

I don't know if talking to my representative will do anything, I live in a conservative state that is very pro oil. But we do have some senators who although republican, does challenge Trump on many other issues and are somewhat environmentally conscious. Just having my fingers crossed right now, but I will make my voice heard to them.

Unfortunately my state also doesn't push for electric cars (but my city does), so I doubt its on the top of their list to fight for in Washington.

 

The tax credit was a factor in buying the Prime but I would have purchased the car even without it.

 

Ugh, I sympathize. If you don't think the environmental argument will hold water, the "don't let your own constituents get hosed" argument holds plenty of it all across the political spectrum. "I bought a car at an effective $4500 discount. I can't unbuy it, or travel back in time and choose a different car. It's hardly a conservative value to retroactively tax your constituents. I sent you to Washington to fight for me, not rip me off." The rise of the populist wing at the moment can also make the "This credit lets us little guys access the kinds of technology that are otherwise just for the elites; are you for the middle class or aren't you?" tack compelling to your GOP Rep, if it suits you. If you've got friends or family in the area thinking of following in your Prime footsteps (Who wouldn't?! This car is awesome!) that approach would make for a good phone call coming from them, too. It might seem cynical to alter your message to fit your congressperson, but at the same time, there honestly are arguments for the EV credit besides arresting the effects of climate change and fossil fuel dependence! We know that EV credit conservation helps our environment and economy and that the proliferation of plug-in vehicles is a net long-term benefit to society... but it doesn't have to be what you lead with if a shift in emphasis is what it takes to help keep the EV revolution going to the point where it can become self-sustaining.

One thing to be aware of is that even if the bill stalls and doesn't pass until later into next year - not terribly unlikely - it can (and, history suggests, probably would) still take effect when it's written to, even if that date becomes one that's in the past. Congress is usually reluctant to pass retroactive tax changes that aren't just rate cuts, but since the bill would have been out for at least a couple of months by then, they'd be considerably more comfortable doing so. The idea is that the market and consumers have been forewarned that these changes are coming, and so backdated losses of credits or deductions won't be a shock to the system and won't incur much anger. So delays alone would most likely not keep the credit intact for 2018 or beyond. Only a rewrite with the credit reinstated, or a defeat of the bill can do that.

Good luck!

 

I'd like to say the same thing, because I really love my Prime! And I'm glad to hear that you do too!

But speaking for myself, the sad fact is that without the credit, I wouldn't have a Prime. Because without the credit, the Prime would have been outside of my budget, based on how much I'd put aside every month during the long lifetime of my last car. Between the credit, state incentives, and other discounts, it was a little over $17k for me, and that was still a dotted line I'm not ashamed to say was scary to sign on! I earn enough not to cry myself to sleep about money, make cut-backs to afford new tires or have to count every cent of my groceries, and am very grateful for it. Too many of us can't say the same. But I don't earn enough that the value of the tax credit isn't meaningful for me. Even though I'm willing to take a financial hit in order to reduce my footprint, I can only do so much and still be reasonable financially responsible. If the Prime had been north of $20k, it would've been too much for me to justify picking up over a used car or Yaris or something. The credit does encourage manufacturers to invest in EV development, does move cars "off the shelves," and gave me access to a means of both lowering my auto emissions by almost 100% (yay green energy billing options), and saving a little more every month towards my next car 10+ years down the line, between the Prime's lower fuel and maintenance costs. I'm not at all arguing that it's the most important thing in that tax bill, by a heckuva longshot, but I'll definitely defend it. /soapbox

 

I bought my Prime with the very real possibility that there wouldn't be a tax credit. In my case, I still don't know, as I have a bunch of credits and deductions due anyway, which may disqualify me. But that's fine. I bought the car because I wanted to move away from fossil fuel usage as much as I could with one car that can also drive through states with little to no charging infrastructure. Hopefully, this is the logic and reasoning other buyers of electric cars and plug-in hybrids are using. It isn't always about saving money or credits, but making paradigm shifts to change the world and being part of that change.

The same 2/5ths level of gas in my tank hasn't changed since August 23rd. I couldn't be happier. I'll begin using that in another month as temps will be in the 20's or much lower. That's expected. I remain impressed with the car's performance so far.

 

Exactly this! The credit changes how much "as much as I could" is for plenty of buyers.

We saw this very clearly in Georgia, where plenty of car shoppers were happy to buy zero-emissions vehicles, but the vast majority of them stopped doing so when the $5000 state credit went away. It's not that the loss of the credit killed their desire to what they could for the environment, rather the loss of the credit moved driving zero-emissions cars from the "I could do this" column to the "I can't" column for many Georgians.

This, I must respectfully sorta-kinda disagree with. I'd hope, too, that everyone chooses cars based upon their environmental friendliness, but the reality is that if we structure the market such that that is the reason why one would buy an EV, then we'd have far fewer EVs on the road. Seems paradoxical, but relying on desire to help the environment results in greater environmental destruction.

Take the famous CFL lightbulb marketing research. Installing CFLs rather than fluorescent bulbs unambiguously saves energy and reduces emissions. When the bulb box touted the environmental friendliness of the bulb, it made a small group of very environmentally-conscious people more likely to buy it (from 60% likelihood without the label up to 80% with it), but it had a huge negative impact on everybody else. Only about 30% of them would buy it. On the other hand, when the box touted the economic benefit of the CFL bulb instead, focusing on how it would lower your electricity bills, everybody bought it at about a 60% rate. Across the population, far more CFLs sold on the basis of their financial benefit than sold on the basis of their environmental one. And that means that CFLs had a far greater environmental impact when sold on the basis of their financial benefit than sold on the basis of their environmental one!

And look at the success of solar today. We didn't have THAT many fewer people 10 and 20 years ago who cared about the environment and reducing home emissions, but we had WAY fewer people going solar. The massive boom we're seeing right now has been entirely because the cost of solar has gone down enough and the incentives have gone high enough that it makes good financial sense for many households to go solar. As a society, we're reaping great benefits, but we wouldn't be if not for the change in the economics of solar.

We can hope that everyone would want to make sure their neighbors are breathing clean air and would want to reverse the effects of climate change, but we're never going to have a shot at actually doing that if we base the adoption of new environmentally-friendly technologies around that basis of choice alone. Non-polluting and low-polluting technologies must be financially advantageous over high-polluting technologies in order for them to see widespread adoption and do much good for us.
EV cars don't even have to be cheaper than ICE cars to be financially advantageous, people will respond well to the prospect of not paying for gas, but their cost has to be fairly close, otherwise they will continue to be a rarity no matter how many people are conscious of the impact of burning fuel.

 

Let's look at why Plug_ins are selling, I list the following reasons:
(1) Natural consumer preference/demand
(2) Incentives:
(a) Federal Credit,
(b) State Credits,
(c) Ca./CARB ZEV sales mandates for Plug-ins,
(d) Free HOV for Plug_ins (mostly Ca. as the key sales state)

 

The shark fin on top of your car sure looks different than I remember on a 2006 Prius.

 

I assure you there is a bona fide white Prius Chat store shark fin on there

2005 Member for you Huskers?....not too shabby!

 

The proposed tax plan cuts the state and local tax deductions and deductions for medical expenses. It isn't likely anything will remain as is in the final plan, if they can get it to a vote.

 

Yeah, I have been around the block...in a Prius of course.

 

I really doubt any of tax code changes will affect anything this tax year. That's just fear mongering to speculate otherwise. The EV tax credit is but one such credit. I bought a solar system this year. I'm not too worried.