California HOV stickers running out by Sept? Really?

There was already a large installed base of Prius and Honda Insight owners when the yellow stickers came out -- hence they quickly ran out. I agree - extremely unlikely they will run out of green stickers before the current expiration date. And that might lead them to extend or to kill it - nobody knows. That said, if white stickers are still available and eligible in 2015, then I might switch to an all EV. By then I assume the technology and offerings will have improved enough to where you can get at least 100-150 REAL miles per charge (not the "up to 100, that really means 60" you get in the Leaf). That would make it more reasonable as a daily driver in my book. With a 60 mile commute right now, the Leaf is not an option. Of course as more of the carpool lanes go HOT, you would have to weigh the toll cost against the differential opportunity cost of buying a new car...

 

Yep, I definitely panicked a bit once I decided to get a PIP in order to get the green sticker, so I paid a premium for the car while I was on a waiting list.

I did get the $1,500 CA rebate check, however, my CPA is telling me that I would not get the federal credit due to AMT...

The gas saving is actually trivial price to pay, but the time saved on the commute is priceless (till Jan 1, 2015)

 

I thought only the old hybrid credit was snuffed out by AMT and that this new credit isn't. Can anyone confirm that??

 

CharlesH posted a link here regarding the AMT

Tax credit for PIP | PriusChat

 

Yes it did twice. I can't remember the dates...but I was in the carpool lane for about 6 years with my 06' Civic Hybrid. (I got my 06' in o5') I will only get a little over 2 years for the Green sticker with my PiP. Anyone think they will extend past 1/1/15 ? that would be nice.

 

I know you wrote that in June - but even if Chevy were to sell 1400 Volts per month and they were all sold in California, the amount of Green stickers available will not decline by the same number because Chevy messed up on their 2012 Volts and some will not qualify for a Green HOV lane sticker. The arb.ca.gov website even has this listed:
Volt - Please note that eligible vehicles with the Low Emissions Package will have an E, F, G or H in the 5th position of the VIN

 

Right. So we have the rest of this year + all of 2013 and 2014 to use the HOV lanes, after which time I hope and suspect they will extend the stickers again. If they are smart, they will see this as a source of revenue and change the sticker color and re-sell them annually. They could even get more $ for them, but I'd rather pay more for the sticker than keep having to re-buy a newer car as the next best thing to use the carpool lanes.

 

I, too, hope that they extend the carpool sticker program past 1/2015. I think it would be a popular idea to even raise the sticker cost a little past $8 (a real bargain), and make the stickers renewable every year or two. Maybe they could link the sticker renewal to the yearly auto registration renewal. Sacramento, are you listening?