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Locking in a price in anticipation of the Federal Tax Credit

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I stopped by the local Tesla store today to check out the changes they made to the 2021 model year. Had an interesting conversation with the sales guy. I never know what to believe from these guys as almost everything the reps have told me so far has generally been wrong.

One example today was my discussing the CA rebate with him. I told him that I was not eligible because I already received the incentive on my current Model 3. He tells me there is no limit to the number of rebates you can apply for. So I pull up the CA EV website and show him where it says limit one per person. So he responds “yeah well you can always have your spouse apply for it”. Well OK, but how about the first statement you made that was completely wrong? And what if you don’t have a spouse, of they already applied for the rebate as well?

Anyways, he brought up an interesting thought. He said I could place a deposit on a 2021 Model 3 but keep the order in suspense for up to a year. Then if the federal tax credit extension passes and Teslas become eligible for the rebate, I can take delivery. I asked him if Tesla was locking in the price at the time the order was placed. He said he wasn’t sure.

Has anyone else talked to Tesla about doing this? At the moment I can order a white LR/AWD/18” aero car for $44,490 after deducting the $1,500 CA Clean Reward. If Tesla was willing to sell me the car at this price and it was eligible for a $7,000 tax credit, that would be a great deal.
 
Rebate roulette is interesting. Reminds me of the folks that expected the pre 2021 refresh S/X pricing to be honored. Some were thrilled with $1500 off the new pricing. Others were angry that they didn’t get a $10,000 windfall.

As for the 3 and federal rebates, I doubt Tesla will raise prices $7500 for the equivalent car but they might reconfigure options to make prices slightly higher. If your sales advisor is willing I think you can push out delivery a couple times, so you might save some money. Your odds are probably better with a currently mid configured car. Pretty sure the SR+ won’t be available that long, but maybe if it only gets pushed off menu? You never know.
 
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He tells me there is no limit to the number of rebates you can apply for. So I pull up the CA EV website and show him where it says limit one per person. So he responds “yeah well you can always have your spouse apply for it”. Well OK, but how about the first statement you made that was completely wrong? And what if you don’t have a spouse, of they already applied for the rebate as well?
You can also get a 2k rebate check from the California Clean Vehicle Rebate project. This is in addition to the 1500 CA clean reward that Tesla automatically deducts from the price of the car.
Clean Vehicle Rebate Project

I can confirm that the CVRP $2k rebate is only good for 2 uses in CA.

I had 2 other EV's that I leased in the past and applied for the CVRP rebate back in 2015 and 2018, and when I tried to apply for the rebate last year in 2020 for my Model 3, I was denied due to already applying the max amount of times.

Good thing I had my wife on the car registration this time around, so we re-applied with her name and were immediately approved and received our check shortly after. Only bad thing is we're now down to our last CVRP rebate (which will get used on my Model Y delivery coming this month).
 
I can confirm that the CVRP $2k rebate is only good for 2 uses in CA.

Do you mean two per individual or two per couple (one each)? Maybe I’m not interpreting it correctly, but here is the wording from the CVRP website:

Rebate Limit
Individual and business applicants are not eligible to receive more than one CVRP rebate either via direct purchase and/or lease as of December 3, 2019. Applicants who have not already met their rebate limit prior to December 3, 2019, will be eligible for one additional rebate. Those that have already met their two-rebate limit will remain ineligible for an additional rebate. Individuals or businesses that have met the rebate limit with non-fuel cell vehicles may apply for one additional rebate for an eligible fuel cell vehicle. This fuel cell vehicle exception does not apply to Rebate Now applications.

Traditional rental and car share fleets are subject to limits of 20 rebates per calendar year. Public fleets are limited to 30 rebates per calendar year.

Eligibility Guidelines
 
Do you mean two per individual or two per couple (one each)? Maybe I’m not interpreting it correctly, but here is the wording from the CVRP website:

Rebate Limit
Individual and business applicants are not eligible to receive more than one CVRP rebate either via direct purchase and/or lease as of December 3, 2019. Applicants who have not already met their rebate limit prior to December 3, 2019, will be eligible for one additional rebate. Those that have already met their two-rebate limit will remain ineligible for an additional rebate. Individuals or businesses that have met the rebate limit with non-fuel cell vehicles may apply for one additional rebate for an eligible fuel cell vehicle. This fuel cell vehicle exception does not apply to Rebate Now applications.

Traditional rental and car share fleets are subject to limits of 20 rebates per calendar year. Public fleets are limited to 30 rebates per calendar year.

Eligibility Guidelines
That means after 12/3/19 only 1 rebate per person/car. I had one rebate back on 10/19, and I’m waiting for my model 3.
 
I ordered a Model 3 Long Range early in May, on an impulse. It is a bit out of my budget I thought. But, I think the overall cost may justify it. To be honest, I really just put the $100 down to dream about it and my local store gave me one for an overnight test drive. Absolutely love that car and really want it. Unfortunately, I am not sure I want or can spend 50K on it.

And then this EV credit extension comes up. $7500 tax credit makes this a no brainer. IF, it happens. I suspect it will if the gov't really wants to go green.

My car will be ready Nov 16-Dec 14. First question. How accurate is that timing? I would love to get this car in a couple of months. But I do not want to get it and find out the EV credit goes into effect in 2022.

Next question, should I push this delivery into next year to make sure the EV credit happens? And does anyone have a strong opinion that this EV credit will come to fruition? I personally think it will.

Thanks to everyone in advance. I hope this spurs some honest and helpful conversation.

Take care.
 
Tesla likes to meet their quarterly goals, so I would say your car would be ready sometime in Dec. I had to push my delivery out due to family reasons, and they told me no problem and that I had one year to pick up a car (or course I went to the end of the line). So you probably can push your delivery out a bit if you need to.
As you said, who knows if/when the tax credit (or perhaps a rebate) will happen.
 
Tesla likes to meet their quarterly goals, so I would say your car would be ready sometime in Dec. I had to push my delivery out due to family reasons, and they told me no problem and that I had one year to pick up a car (or course I went to the end of the line). So you probably can push your delivery out a bit if you need to.
As you said, who knows if/when the tax credit (or perhaps a rebate) will happen.
thanks for your experience. I will add that I notice what appears to be conflicting info on the credit/rebate situation.

I do my own taxes. I opened my last return for 2020 that I filed in Spring of 2021. I am not an accountant. I have used HR Block software for 20 years.

I added EV info into the software. My return increased by 7500, as i suspected. I did this because I have read articles on edmonds and elsehwere that said you do not get increased refunds. I believe that is not true. Your tax liability decreases by 7500 which directly affects your refund. Of course, you tax liability needs to be at least 7500 to take advantage. I suspect most of us have way more that 7500 fed tax liability.
 
Next question, should I push this delivery into next year to make sure the EV credit happens? And does anyone have a strong opinion that this EV credit will come to fruition? I personally think it will.
As you can see from this thread, people have been discussing the possible Federal EV tax credit since the beginning of the year. I was closely following it before I decided it was not going to happen any time soon and ordered in June. I was kicking myself because the MY price had gone up $3500 from it's lowest point at that point and I didn't see those increases stopping in the near term.

I abandoned the idea of the tax credit because it was making no progress and it seemed like I might be ineligible to receive it based on the proposals at the time. The most recent House proposal is much more generous with income and price caps so I could possibly benefit from it. I decided to delay my delivery until the end of the month to see if there's any progress on the bill before deciding if I should wait until 2022. The gridlock so far on this has not made me optimistic about it's chances though.

Here's a good overview of the current senate and house proposals: Latest on Tesla EV Tax Credit (October 2021) - Current and Upcoming in 2022
 
  • Informative
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Thanks for that article. This part seems critical:
This cap is eliminated retroactively for vehicles sold after May 24, 2021 (Chairman's Mark, p. 30). This means that any cars sold by GM and Tesla after May 24, 2021 will be eligible for up to a $7,500 tax credit. In sum: the 200,000 cap removal would be retroactive and applied to Tesla cars bought after May 24, 2021. A $7,500 tax credit would apply to 2021 taxes that are filed in 2022, so buyers would receive the credit when they file taxes in 2022.
Doesn't that mean that anyone trying to wait on placing an order until there's a new EV credit can go ahead an order, knowing that the credit will be retroactive? Or at least a big part of it?
 
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Reactions: mephiska
I ordered a Model 3 Long Range early in May, on an impulse. It is a bit out of my budget I thought. But, I think the overall cost may justify it. To be honest, I really just put the $100 down to dream about it and my local store gave me one for an overnight test drive. Absolutely love that car and really want it. Unfortunately, I am not sure I want or can spend 50K on it.

And then this EV credit extension comes up. $7500 tax credit makes this a no brainer. IF, it happens. I suspect it will if the gov't really wants to go green.

My car will be ready Nov 16-Dec 14. First question. How accurate is that timing? I would love to get this car in a couple of months. But I do not want to get it and find out the EV credit goes into effect in 2022.

Next question, should I push this delivery into next year to make sure the EV credit happens? And does anyone have a strong opinion that this EV credit will come to fruition? I personally think it will.

Thanks to everyone in advance. I hope this spurs some honest and helpful conversation.

Take care.

If you're concerned with being able to afford a $50k car, you should not buy a $50k car.

There's nothing in the order documentation that requires Tesla to lock in pricing, and as of late they've gone back and forth. A bunch of people ordered Model X and S cars thinking that they'd get pricing locked in, and Tesla told them to pound sand. On top of that, Tesla has been steadily increasing prices, and there's nothing to make me believe that if a tax credit actually did pass, that they wouldn't do it again to offset the credit.
 
Good to know I’m not the only one trying to desperately figure out what to do. Just put in my order for a M3LR and have a EDD of Dec 15-31. I am fully aware the credit is not a sure thing but I did go into it thinking the retroactive portion was to be included. Now I don’t know if should cancel the order and play a waiting game or try and play the pushback/delay game on the order.
 
Good to know I’m not the only one trying to desperately figure out what to do. Just put in my order for a M3LR and have a EDD of Dec 15-31. I am fully aware the credit is not a sure thing but I did go into it thinking the retroactive portion was to be included. Now I don’t know if should cancel the order and play a waiting game or try and play the pushback/delay game on the order.

I went back and forth for a few days on this. My EDD is late November into December. I ended up deciding to to put my vehicle on hold until January. I'm in no hurry to get it and will be busy with work all December anyways. I'm willing to wait an extra 30 or so days to potentially save up to $8,000.