Urgent Federal Legislation: Equalize Tax Credit Phase-Ou

[Texas]

If Tesla begins to lose the $7500 tax credit in 2019 and if BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, and Jaguar retain the $7500 credit Tesla will no longer have any ability to cope in the market.

It will be Game Over for Tesla. GM, too, for their electric car program.

Tesla obviously knows this and has pointed out the problem more than once.

What I do not see is an all-out push from any quarter to amend the federal tax law to equalize the phase-out date for all manufacturers. The deadline is only four months away.

Extension of the credit would defer the problem, and perhaps this is what should be done short term. But political support for tax subsidies of green programs is thin to say the least. A 50% phase-down in the first half of 2019 followed by a 25% credit in the second half of 2019 would be fair to Tesla and GM without penalizing other carmakers, whose incentives originate in foreign countries, not in the U.S.

Contact your Congressional representatives! This is a very serious problem.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Uh, no. It's how it works. It's how it was always going to work.
That's why Tesla is focused on the Model 3: there's no serious competition at the low end of the premium segment.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Nope. Tesla has a product far superior to any other, as well as the Supercharging network. They don't need the $7500 tax credit, although it's a nice kicker for buyers.

Their products speak for themselves and will sell nearly or as well as they do now.

Also, the tax credit drops to half for half of 2019, and half again for the rest.

The sky is not falling.

 

[Eclectic]

If Tesla begins to lose the $7500 tax credit in 2019 and if BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi, and Jaguar retain the $7500 credit Tesla will no longer have any ability to cope in the market.

It will be Game Over for Tesla. GM, too, for their electric car program.

Tesla obviously knows this and has pointed out the problem more than once.

What I do not see is an all-out push from any quarter to amend the federal tax law to equalize the phase-out date for all manufacturers. The deadline is only four months away.

Extension of the credit would defer the problem, and perhaps this is what should be done short term. But political support for tax subsidies of green programs is thin to say the least. A 50% phase-down in the first half of 2019 followed by a 25% credit in the second half of 2019 would be fair to Tesla and GM without penalizing other carmakers, whose incentives originate in foreign countries, not in the U.S.

Contact your Congressional representatives! This is a very serious problem.

Tesla fully benefitted from the program. If they can't compete without ANOTHER subsidy, it should be game over for them.

 

[Fobble]

I personally think to be fair to trailblazer like Tesla, the tax credit should continue, until money runs out and phased out to ALL EV brands at the same time down the road.

 

[glide]

I personally think to be fair to trailblazer like Tesla, the tax credit should continue, until money runs out and phased out to ALL EV brands at the same time down the road.

That equates to “picking winners” in the marketplace. Ain’t gonna happen.

 

[cpa]

I would think that the only downside to the reduction and eventual elimination of the tax credit would be that people might not spend as much on options. I know that for us, that $7,500 enabled us to add a few bells and whistles to both our 2014 S and our Model 3.

It remains to be seen if the competitors will be able to produce a compelling product with enough supply and demand. Time will tell. But Tesla still has that ace in the hole called Superchargers, whether free or fee.