EV Incentives

[Odenator]

My own opinion: For EVs to gain market share, mostly three things seem important:

1) battery range and cost/range
2) L2 charging at places where one parks for a long time (and there is a chance one might come from far away).
3) fast-charging for places where one parks for a short time, perhaps only in order to charge (and there is a chance one might come from far away).

I completely agree with your statement. L2 chargers would be great around cities where one could stop at restaurants, shopping malls to recharge. L2 chargers make less sense if placed along the interstate freeways. Spending 3 hours at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere to charge up just seems wrong.

 

[DaveD]

No sales tax on EVs in WA state until at least July 2015.

 

[Mycroft]

No sales tax on EVs in WA state until at least July 2015.

Awesome!!! I did not know that, and I've been in the showroom twice! You'd think they would kinda advertise that.

 

[daniel]

Yep. I paid $75.75 registration and titling, and a $150 document fee, and of course shipping from Chicago ($600) but zero sales tax. It's awfully regressive to exempt a hundred-thousand-dollar car from sales tax. But I'm not complaining.

 

[S-2000 Roadster]

It's awfully regressive to exempt a hundred-thousand-dollar car from sales tax. But I'm not complaining.

Think of it this way: It's only expensive because it's hand made in the U.S. (and the U.K.). So those hundreds of thousands of dollars are staying in the economy. Plus, if it weren't for folks buying electric cars while they're frighteningly expensive, there might never be affordable electric cars for those citizens with lower incomes.

Also, you're paying the full price of driving a hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle on Washington roads, so you're not exactly getting a free ride.

 

[bolosky]

No sales tax on EVs in WA state until at least July 2015.

When did that happen, Dave? The last I heard the exemption was set to expire at the end of 2011.

I may even convince my wife to get a Model S by then!

 

[DaveD]

http://www.nissanusa.com/ev/media/pdf/incentives/nissan-leaf-incentive-54.pdf is a good collection of the appropriate documents. The extension of the exemption to July 2015 happened in the 2010 legislative session.

 

[daniel]

Think of it this way: It's only expensive because it's hand made in the U.S. (and the U.K.). So those hundreds of thousands of dollars are staying in the economy. Plus, if it weren't for folks buying electric cars while they're frighteningly expensive, there might never be affordable electric cars for those citizens with lower incomes.

Also, you're paying the full price of driving a hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle on Washington roads, so you're not exactly getting a free ride.

It's easy to construct convincing arguments to give ourselves tax breaks. "We rich folks are doing so much good by spending our wealth on fun cars." (And if you can afford this car, you're rich, in my book.) Meanwhile people have lost their jobs and their homes. People are sleeping under bridges. Higher education is beyond the financial reach of many people.

Bottom line, the government needs money to run, and taxes are the way we pay for the services we all demand. Like I say, I won't complain about being on the winning side of unfairness. It's a dog-eat-dog world and I'd rather be the one eating than the one being eaten. But I won't try to convince myself that it's not unfair.

And with all due respect, I'm not "paying the full price of driving a hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle on Washington roads." I paid a lousy $75.75 fee for licensing and registration, and I pay no gas tax at all when I drive the Roadster.

 

[Mycroft]

Yeah, the legislature tried to add something like $100 to the renewal of electric-only cars, (someone in Olympia can see the writing on the wall), but it failed.

 

[Jaff]

Not so.

Rich folks don't work (daily grind) for a living...I'd venture that most Roadster owners are UMC...you are obviously using a socialists definition of the term rich, which is utter crappola in my opinion.

Please do not try to blame me for society's ills or certain individual's failures.

This is not the venue for your political assertions.

It's easy to construct convincing arguments to give ourselves tax breaks. "We rich folks are doing so much good by spending our wealth on fun cars." (And if you can afford this car, you're rich, in my book.) Meanwhile people have lost their jobs and their homes. People are sleeping under bridges. Higher education is beyond the financial reach of many people.

Bottom line, the government needs money to run, and taxes are the way we pay for the services we all demand. Like I say, I won't complain about being on the winning side of unfairness. It's a dog-eat-dog world and I'd rather be the one eating than the one being eaten. But I won't try to convince myself that it's not unfair.

And with all due respect, I'm not "paying the full price of driving a hundred-thousand-dollar vehicle on Washington roads." I paid a lousy $75.75 fee for licensing and registration, and I pay no gas tax at all when I drive the Roadster.

 

[Lloyd]

California runs out of rebate funds as expected. Article

 

[daniel]

Not so.

Rich folks don't work (daily grind) for a living...I'd venture that most Roadster owners are UMC...you are obviously using a socialists definition of the term rich, which is utter crappola in my opinion.

Please do not try to blame me for society's ills or certain individual's failures.

This is not the venue for your political assertions.

I'm not blaming anybody for anything. The topic is incentives for buying EVs, and I'm expressing the opinion that tax breaks for people who can afford a hundred-thousand-dollar sports car do not make sense for society overall. Putting money into research on better battery technology makes a lot more sense than tax breaks for limited-edition cars that will sell out with or without the tax break. Governments are hard up for money, and the tax break on the Roadster make no economic sense.

 

[neroden]

To get back to the topic, I believe there are still no NY State incentives for buying an electric car, right?

I'm buying one anyway. I'd rather have the government putting in L3 charging stations (which I *cannot* practically do on my own) than providing purchase incentives.

 

[TEG]

California electric-car rebate program resumes

...California's electric-car rebate program, so popular that it ran out of cash last month, is back in business.
The California Air Resources Board on Thursday approved spending $15 million to $21 million to fund the program, which gives rebates to buyers of electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids.
"This money is going to put thousands of ultra-clean vehicles on our roads within the year," said Mary Nichols, the board's chairwoman, in a statement. "That means better air quality sooner, and real progress in making a dent in our dependence on petroleum."
The money comes from vehicle registration fees and smog abatement fees, so the program's exact budget will depend on the amount of revenue collected.
Even though electric cars are just now reaching the mass market, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project has already attracted more applicants than planned.
The state hands out the rebates on a first-come, first-served basis. During the last fiscal year, the air resources board and the California Energy Commission devoted $7 million to the program. So many car buyers applied that the money ran out on June 20.
So for the fiscal year that began this month, the air board decided to expand funding and shrink the individual rebates, in a bid to stretch the money farther.
In the past, buyers of electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf or the Tesla Roadster could receive a $5,000 rebate. Now the maximum rebate will be $2,500. People who buy plug-in hybrid cars or electric motorcycles will receive smaller amounts...

 

[vfx]

Boy do I want this!

Here in CA and everywhere!!

http://uk.autoblog.com/2011/10/11/new-80mph-speed-limit-could-be-for-ev-vehicles-only/

A perk that will make motorheads pay attention.

 

[ckessel]

http://uk.autoblog.com/2011/10/11/new-80mph-speed-limit-could-be-for-ev-vehicles-only/

Hmm, one of the main tenants in traffic safety is having most people largely going the same speed. Having a difference like this would promote EVs weaving around traffic that can't go the same speed.

 

[Lloyd]

Hmm, one of the main tenants in traffic safety is having most people largely going the same speed. Having a difference like this would promote EVs weaving around traffic that can't go the same speed.

That is a fallacy, as we will always have had traffic at different speeds. Large trucks are a perfect example. It is the weaving and/or lane chages not done properly that is the unsafe action, not necessarily the speed in itself. If we followed this tennant passing would be illegal, and nobody would progress faster than the slowest drivers ability (grandma at 90) or the slowest overloaded truck!

 

[Doug_G]

That is a fallacy, as we will always have had traffic at different speeds. Large trucks are a perfect example. It is the weaving and/or lane chages not done properly that is the unsafe action, not necessarily the speed in itself. If we followed this tennant passing would be illegal, and nobody would progress faster than the slowest drivers ability (grandma at 90) or the slowest overloaded truck!

Speed differential does matter. I recall reading somewhere that, statistically, cars that are driving a little faster than average have the lowest accident rates.

 

[ckessel]

That is a fallacy, as we will always have had traffic at different speeds.

There's a world of difference between trucks going 55 instead of 65 and confined to the slow lane compared to general traffic intermingled some of which is allowed 80 and others 65. I'm not going to spend time hunting down and validating links to traffic safety studies, but consider that if you think there's no safety value in going similar speeds then you're pretty close to arguing that there shouldn't be speed laws about flow of traffic.

 

[Lloyd]

Granted, I'm sure there is a difference, but if we never walked across a street we would never have pedestrian accidents. Everything needs to be in perspective.