Texas will offer rebates for electric cars

[JasJ]

Texas will offer rebates for electric cars

Electric cars get a new jolt of energy from Texas

The articles are very light on details. Does anyone have knowledge about when this goes into effect?

Be nice if they applied it to all cars bought in 2017 (as I just did).

 

[TXjak]

It is a reinstatement of an expired rebate program.

Teslas did not then and do not qualify now because it is only applies to sales via franchised dealers in TX.

John

 

[azred]

Anyone care to guess what businesses own the Texas Legislature? (They own ours too but at least the incentives like car pool lanes access for all electric vehicles and dirt cheap car plates for electric vehicles don't discriminate...yet)

 

[kort677]

interesting
it seems a bit schizo to me because of how they just reaffirmed their laws that limit how the largest seller of EVs sells their cars in TX

 

[JasJ]

It is a reinstatement of an expired rebate program.

Teslas did not then and do not qualify now because it is only applies to sales via franchised dealers in TX.

John

Boo.... but figures.

 

[purplewalt]

Only ONE thing controls the Legislature in Texas.
(Dirty) Money, from Lobbyists.
Lots of it.

Not naming names, but don't have to look too far....

In a State with heavy pulse of oil as part of it's heritage, it will take a long time for any new direction in thinking.
And Bills that will pass the Legislature.

Until the system changes with strict term limits or all of the existing Legislators grow a Moral spine, nothing is going to change in Texas.

 

[pilotSteve]

Only ONE thing controls the Legislature in Texas.
(Dirty) Money, from Lobbyists.
Lots of it.
...
Until the system changes with strict term limits or all of the existing Legislators grow a Moral spine, nothing is going to change in Texas.

... or US Congress

 

[purplewalt]

... or US Congress

....Or United States Supreme Court

 

[JasJ]

....Or United States Supreme Court

Given the current political environment, we could be waiting a while.

 

[purplewalt]

But, unlike the Texas Legislature, at least there are no Lobbyists coming around the Supreme Court.
Small miracles do happen, just not all at one time.
Big Miracles just take a bit longer.

Michigan, Texas, New Mexico and several other states, all cleaned up with one Positive SC Ruling.

 

[WATTS-UP]

I know this is not going to sit right with a lot of people, but, I wish that the people with money , individuals or company’s put away their tin cups and stop begging for money. Why should someone who is able to purchase a $100,000.00 car get an incentive to do so. Just because the Oil Companies, Big Pharma, or some Automobile Manufacturing Company are getting billions of tax payer dollars we ( the little guy) should too it's only fair right? Two wrongs don’t make a right. If I listed all the company’s that have their hand out the list would be so long it would make anyone reading it sick.


Lets cut it out and I mean all of it, we can start with FOREIGN AID, and then move on to the military industrial complex.

 

[kort677]

I know this is not going to sit right with a lot of people, but, I wish that the people with money , individuals or company’s put away their tin cups and stop begging for money. Why should someone who is able to purchase a $100,000.00 car get an incentive to do so. Just because the Oil Companies, Big Pharma, or some Automobile Manufacturing Company are getting billions of tax payer dollars we ( the little guy) should too it's only fair right? Two wrongs don’t make a right. If I listed all the company’s that have their hand out the list would be so long it would make anyone reading it sick.


Lets cut it out and I mean all of it, we can start with FOREIGN AID, and then move on to the military industrial complex.

they can also purchase a less than $30k car and receive the same tax advantage, why are you hung up on how about the cost of the car that generates the rebates?

 

[Firewired]

This has been around for a while. I looked into it when I got my first Model S in 2014. They wrote the law so that the car had to be purchased from a Texas "dealer." Meaning everyone else, but Tesla would qualify.

 

[purplewalt]

I know this is not going to sit right with a lot of people, but, I wish that the people with money , individuals or company’s put away their tin cups and stop begging for money. Why should someone who is able to purchase a $100,000.00 car get an incentive to do so. Just because the Oil Companies, Big Pharma, or some Automobile Manufacturing Company are getting billions of tax payer dollars we ( the little guy) should too it's only fair right? Two wrongs don’t make a right. If I listed all the company’s that have their hand out the list would be so long it would make anyone reading it sick.


Lets cut it out and I mean all of it, we can start with FOREIGN AID, and then move on to the military industrial complex.

I come from a family of five siblings, so almost everything to me is based on the "fairness factor".
So, If VW and Hyundai and BMW and MB and Ford and Chevy and Jaguar and Audi and... Dealer can give that sort of added incentive to their EV customers simply because those cars are sold at a franchised car dealer, and NOT cars sold directly from the car manufacturer to their customer -- I perceive that to be an unfair advantage.

Please explain how your "fairness factor" is aligned with the above circumstances.

I am not "begging for money", I only request to be treated fairly and equally like customers of franchised dealers.
What is good for the goose is good for the gander.
The incentive was put in place for a reason.
Why limit it with the extra term of franchised dealers?

I feel the same rules and laws should apply to everyone, without special benefits for just customers of the franchised dealers.

 

[Twiglett]

I know this is not going to sit right with a lot of people, but, I wish that the people with money , individuals or company’s put away their tin cups and stop begging for money. Why should someone who is able to purchase a $100,000.00 car get an incentive to do so. Just because the Oil Companies, Big Pharma, or some Automobile Manufacturing Company are getting billions of tax payer dollars we ( the little guy) should too it's only fair right? Two wrongs don’t make a right. If I listed all the company’s that have their hand out the list would be so long it would make anyone reading it sick.


Lets cut it out and I mean all of it, we can start with FOREIGN AID, and then move on to the military industrial complex.

The problem with THAT argument is that you personally are penalizing others based on "people who can afford 100K cars".
Its a completely ill informed argument - My Model 3 will not cost about the same or less than a Chevy Bolt - the only reason I'm being penalized is because I'm not buying from a dealer - its got nothing to do with how much I (don't) earn.
No tin cups, no begging, no companies begging for money. This is crony politics propping up the dealer lobby, nothing more.
If its really about people who can afford expensive cars then put earning limits on it, or car value limits. But they haven't done that have they? They purposely excluded a single company that only sells EVs that are made in the USA. But allow german or korean or japanese cars - as long as they are sold by dealers.
Take the blue collar out of it and see it for what it is - just another set of texas politicians bought by lobbying dollars from the dealership lobby.

 

[Dr. J]

**The deadline for comments is this Friday, Dec. 22, 2017, at 5:00 PM.**

eComments Form for Proposed Rulemaking

"For which rulemaking would you like to provide comments?"
Select:
Light-Duty Motor Vehicle Purchase or Lease Incentive Program

Several people--more than a couple dozen--commented at the public hearing on Dec. 11, 2017 in favor of including Tesla in the program. Two people, both lobbyists with Big Autodealer , favored the proposed language excluding Tesla.

Tesla vehicles qualify for the program in every respect--except for one place in the bill, Sec. 386.155(a), Manufacturer's Report, specifically, "...a manufacturer of motor vehicles...shall provide to the commission a list of the new vehicle...models that the manufacturer intends to sell in this state during that model year that meets the incentive requirements established under Section 386.154." [emphasis added] That's the hangup.

My response to that: Sec. 386.155(b), "The commission may supplement the information provided under Subsection (a) with additional information on available vehicle models, including information provided by manufacturers or installers of systems to convert new motor vehicles to operate on natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas...."
[emphasis added] provides the commission with authority to add other qualifying vehicles such as those made by Tesla. It's a minority viewpoint. But it's true to a literal reading. Note that the qualifier following the comma, "including information..." is not restrictive--that is, it "includes" but is not "limited to" gas/LP conversions.

If you have an opinion on the rebate program, you have until this Friday to let them know.

 

[thenaimis]

If you have an opinion on the rebate program, you have until this Friday to be dismissed out of hand in favor of the moneybags.

FTFY.

 

[Shaggy]

Lets cut it out and I mean all of it, we can start with FOREIGN AID, and then move on to the military industrial complex.

It's a good point, but it completely misses the point of the rebate. Not to get you to buy a car you can already afford, but instead buy a CLEANER car. Yes, I could buy an Audi S8+ OR a Tesla Model S. The cars cost the same, but the incentive is to buy the electrified one over the polluting one. Same applies for the Leaf over cars costing the same EXCEPT, the rule only excludes the American manufacturer that isn't allowed to sell within the state. So a double-double standard is the problem.