Electric Vehicle Tax Credit Survives, but G.M. and Tesla Aren’t Cheering
A company spokesman, Patrick E. Morrissey, said G. M.
supports continuing the electric vehicle credit “as an important customer benefit
that can help accelerate the acceptance of electric vehicles,” but added, “We believe additional reform to the E. V.
tax credit would help grow the market for of electric vehicles even more.”
That’s because as now structured, the tax credit puts Tesla and G. M.
at a competitive disadvantage, especially compared with foreign rivals who are just starting to ramp up electric vehicle sales in the United States.
All of those manufacturers have announced aggressive sales plans for electric
vehicles in the United States but so far have sold relatively few of them
The 200,000 limit on the tax credit was added in 2009 when Congress extended incentives for plug-in vehicles
passed during the George W. Bush administration, as a way to move the nation toward energy independence.
Yet in the final tax bill Mr. Trump signed in December, there they are: the full panoply of
tax incentives for renewable energy, as well as the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit.
Tesla and G. M., far ahead of their rivals in investing in and promoting electric vehicles, have benefited from the tax credit in the intervening years,
but will lose it soon, just as the market is becoming more competitive — in effect, penalizing them for being ahead of the curve.