[Captain Blight]

In the proposed infrastructure bill the tax credit for PHEV's will drop to $4,000. Currently the tax credit for the Tucson Plug-in Hybrid is $6,587. I'm curious if this will cause anybody with a Tucson Plug-in Hybrid on order to change their order to a regular hybrid?

[Source: Grant Thornton LLC]........Plug-in electric vehicles would generally qualify for a credit of $4,000, plus an additional $3,500 if battery capacity is 40 kilowatt hours or more and the gas tank holds less than 2.5 gallons. The battery requirement would increase to 50 kilowatt hours in 2027. The credit would be unavailable for vehicles exceeding certain price thresholds and for taxpayers exceeding certain income thresholds. (Democrats approach sweeping tax agreement)

I've contacted a number of automotive publications and my (progressive) congresscritter to try and get this changed. Please join me in this effort if you can. My arguments are that the reduced tax credit for PHEV's will tip people towards HEV's, reducing electrification and increasing carbon emissions. My suggestion is that the reduced tax credit for PHEV's be deferred until the build-out of charging stations reaches a certain level and/or the charging rate for BEV batteries increases to a defined level.

Congratulations to anybody who takes delivery of their PHEV in 2021.

 

[Captain Blight]

Here is a different interpretation from Forbes: ...............Plug-in hybrids may lose eligibility for the federal tax credit because the House version would allow the credit only for PHEVs with tiny gas tanks not exceeding 2.5-gallon capacity. That’s essentially a range-extended EV, not a PHEV like Toyota’s popular RAV4 Prime, which has a nearly 15-gallon tank and currently qualifies for the full $7,500 tax credit.

 

[Captain Blight]

Correction below. The base tax credit will remain at $4,000. The tax credit for the Tucson Plug-in Hybrid will drop to $4,000.

Bad news. In the Build Back Better (BBB) Act as passed by the House the tax credit for PHEVs is reduced to ZERO. Forbes is correct, and only PHEVs with a gas tank smaller than 2.5 gallons will receive a $4,000 tax credit.

Congress aims to revamp consumer incentives for plug-in electric vehicles

The BBB Act now goes to the Senate, where it can be modified. (There is no conference committee.) I am reaching out to as many Senators and publications as possible to try and enlist their aid to retain as much of the PHEV tax credit as possible. The points I am making are:

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was recently passed and signed into law includes billions of dollars to kick-start the buildout of a nationwide EV charger network, but it will take years for the buildout to achieve any significant mass.
• EV battery charging technology is improving, but charging is still a slow process.
• Without a tax credit for PHEVs, and without a practical charging ecosystem for EVs, many potential buyers of PHEVs will buy Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) instead of PHEVs or EVs. This will actually reduce the amount of electrification in the U.S. auto fleet.
• Any reduction in the tax credit for PHEVs should be deferred until the buildout of the EV charging network reaches a defined threshold and EV battery charging speed achieves a stated minimum.

It would be great to retain the current tax credit of up to $7,500 for PHEVs, but at a minimum a $4,000 tax credit should be provided.

If you are planning to buy a Tucson Plug-in Hybrid, please join me in contacting as many senators (and automotive publications) as possible and asking them to retain some or all of the tax credit for PHEVs. If one or both of the senators representing your state are Democrats, be sure to contact them as a constituent. I would suggest contacting Senators Schumer, Manchin, Merkley, Schatz, Warren and Booker. This League Of Conservation Voters scorecard might suggest other senators to contact. (Select Senate | Democrat | 2020 | Transportation and sort on the scores.)

https://scorecard.lcv.org/members-of-congress

 

[Captain Blight]

In another forum somebody went to the Congressional Record and determined that the base tax credit will remain at $4,000. My apologies for the misinformation.