In this Nov. 10, 2018 photo, Tesla Model S, battery operated ride-on cars for children, are … [+]
Tesla sent out a warning email this week that the federal tax credit for buying an electric vehicle will expire for good for Tesla EVs in less than five weeks.
That the tax credits will expire soon is no surprise, since the way the credits were structured when they were introduced in 2010 laid all of the rules out clearly. The first 200,000 buyers of plug-in vehicles – pure EVs and plug-in hybrids – from any automaker get to take advantage of tax credits that range between $2,500 and $7,500, depending on the size of the battery pack in the car they buy. After the first 200,000 are sold, tax incentives for EVs from that automaker start to decline in what’s called the “phase out” period.
The Environmental Protection Agency tracks (to some degree) the progress the automakers are making on selling EVs. The exact sales figures are not listed, but the current value of the credits for each OEM are available. As you can see here, only Tesla and GM have sold enough plug-in vehicles for the credits to start phasing out. For Tesla, the phase out started on January 1, 2019. That’s when the $7,500 credit was cut in half to $3,750, and it stayed there until June 30. For the second half of 2019, the tax credits for Tesla EVs were just $1,875. And this is the amount that goes away entirely at the end of December, so any Tesla that gets ordered this year but delivered in 2020 will not qualify. GM EV’s are still in the $1,875 zone, and they will remain there until the end of March 2020.
Some states also offer incentives for EV buyers, and you can find the details for Tesla EVs here. And this is the text of the email that Tesla sent out this week:
In less than 5 weeks, the federal tax credit will be expiring and purchases of a new Model S, Model X or Model 3 will no longer be eligible for this incentive. Order online in less than three minutes and experience the ease, convenience and safety of an all-electric design.
Place your order and take delivery by December 31, 2019 to be eligible for the federal tax credit. Orders placed near the end of the year are not guaranteed to be delivered by December 31.
Any purchase of a Model S or Model X will also come with free Supercharging.
