Tesla has been slashing prices. Ford just cut the price of its Mustang Mach-E, too, plus it cut back production of its electric pickup. And General Motors is thinking about bringing back plug-in hybrids, possibly taking a step back from GM’s earlier commitment to shifting straight to pure EVs.
And now the EPA is considering slowing down requirements for automakers to sell more electric vehicles, dialing back what had been aggressive plans to move away from gas powered cars and SUVs.
You’d be forgiven for thinking the American market for EVs is collapsing. But in the last quarter of 2023, EV sales were up 40% from the same quarter a year before, according to Cox Automotive. In fact, EV sales in the United States hit a record last year, topping 1 million for the first time.
Still there is a troubling gap between expectations and reality. Bloomberg New Energy Finance, for instance, had projected sales of 1.7 million plug-in vehicles in 2023, but only 1.46 million ultimately sold. (BNEF’s figures include plug-in hybrids, but the large majority are fully electric vehicles.) The trend line isn’t slanting upward as sharply as many had predicted so the industry is lowering future estimates.
Industry experts cite a number of reasons for this, including vehicle price, lack of charging capacity and confusing tax credit rules.
The tax credit nonsense sucks, it should just be a simple subsidy such that the sticker price goes down. Also shift funds from directly subsidizing the cars and use it to put in chargers, offer loans for landlords to install them in rental’s parking spaces and transit and protected bike lanes to reduce the need for cars in the first place
On paper, that’s a great idea.
In practice though, you can expect the dealers to markup the difference, so the consumer pays exactly the same.
At least with the tax credit, dealers still have to account for sticker shock.
Edit: Looks like you’ve edited the message since my reply. So continuing:
They do offer subsidies on home chargers, both installation and the device itself, also through tax credits. Though you have to be careful, if your tax credits on the car exceed your taxes for that year, the credit for the charger is worthless.
I may be smart to make your EV purchase towards the end of one tax year, and the charger at the beginning of the next.