Folks,
There’s a proposal from a staffer at the MA Zero Emission Vehicle Commission to eliminate the MA state tax credit for the purchase of an EV above a certain dollar amount, $60K. I think we can make a difference in this process and I’m asking you to take about 5 minutes of your time right now, this moment, today, to read this email and take a step. We need to take steps TODAY because it turns out that the commission is meeting at 10 am TOMORROW and this proposal is on their agenda!
Please be polite in your comments on this thread and in whatever you post elsewhere as there is a fellow Tesla owner on the commission and an environmental representative from the Sierra Club who is responsible for their EV initiatives and is friendly to the Tesla community.
If you want to get right to the steps I’m suggesting, you can skip to NEXT STEPS.
Here is my perspective:
1. Funds are not running out in the program. The program is working as it should. Tesla is broadening its offerings to include an SUV (starting to ship in December) and a mass-market offering, the Model 3, to be unveiled as a prototype in the first half of 2016 and anticipated to ship by year’s end 2017. We should be encouraging such offerings, not hindering them. Therefore, there’s no need to take action any time soon.
2. If somebody feels that it is important for some reason to make a change, I think the proposal to limit state assistance to vehicles based on vehicle MSRP has it all backwards. Instead, assistance should be based on two factors.
(1) The practicality of the EV in question. The program is trying to accelerate the adoption of alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. But most (all?) EVs today, other than Tesla, are impractical. They have limited range (e.g., <100 miles) and lengthy recharging times. They are unsuitable for travel outside the owner’s local area, therefore limited even within Massachusetts! Assistance from MA should be targeted towards the most practical vehicles, such as those with ranges of 200 miles or more and the ability to recharge rapidly, especially on road trips (Supercharger network, including Superchargers right here in MA at Auburn Mall, Sagamore bridge, Dedham, and nearby in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont).
Assistance should be targeted for electric vehicles that can fully REPLACE a gas-powered car, rather than for vehicles that cause owners to rely on having a second, gas-powered car.
I know a Tesla can replace a gas car, as my 2013 Tesla P85+ replaced my Audi A4.
Ironically, the commission’s proposal to place a “cap” on the MSRP of an EV that qualifies for the tax credit is predicated in part on the revelation that most Tesla purchasers don’t seriously consider any other electric vehicles. But that’s penalizing the purchasers and the manufacturer for making a great CAR that is actually USABLE as a gas-vehicle replacement! The proposed cap affects these current vehicles: Cadillac ELR, Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid, and BMW i8. But we as owners know that these are not in fact desirable cars. The Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid has limited electric range and relies heavily on its gas engine. The BMW i8 is completely impractical except as a midlife crisis car and has a microscopic electric range, relying on its gas engine; and the Cadillac ELR has its own limitations. The vehicles that continue to be eligible under this proposal are exactly the vehicles that are impractical or rely on gas engines or both.
(2) The program could also consider the need of the purchaser. For example, the tax credit could be fully available to purchasers with incomes of $200,000 per year or less and then phased out in stages until it hit zero for purchasers with incomes of $300,000 per year or more. Such a structure would help everyone aspire to replace their gas vehicles with the most practical EVs.
If the ZEV commission were to adopt this approach, it would further be a good idea to RAISE the tax credit to $5,000, since the tax credit would then be better targeted towards the goals of enhancing EV adoption and assisting MA residents in their purchase of such a vehicle. Note that in Louisiana, the current tax credit is $8,000; one would think that Massachusetts has at least equal financial resources to Louisiana.
NEXT STEPS
===========
1. Look at the attached list of members of the ZEV commission. If you know someone on the commission, please call or write or FAX them. Please feel free to include any/all of the points I’ve made above; best to do it in your own words.
2. Send an email to the staff person most responsible, Linda Benavides, whose email address is [email protected]. Please remember: be polite!
3. Join me at the commission meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18, at 10 a.m. The address is:
100 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA
The meeting is being held on the second floor in conference rooms B, C and D.
The meeting is open to the public but the public does NOT have the opportunity to speak at the meeting.
If you can’t come to the meeting tomorrow — and, honestly, I have trouble imagining how most people could, with one day’s notice and the meeting happening during the prime working day — but you agree with the direction I’m heading on this issue, then please make me “your delegate”. Send me your name and address and if you can your PICTURE, and I’ll work up some kind of poster or handout for the commission that lists all of us by name and face so that they will know we are speaking out about the issue!
I’m going to be sitting in the audience with a poster, such as Elon’s Secret Master Plan to get to the Model III, and if I know you are coming to the meeting I’ll bring some extra posters.
4. Please forward this issue to other owners who you think will care. Non-MA owners can help by tweeting, re-sending, face booking, generally making the news known, and particularly reaching out to other owners in MA.
Thanks,
Alan
Enc.: (1) MA ZEV Commission Members chart and (2) EV CAP proposal
2015 Massachusetts Zero Emission Vehicle Commission Members
View attachment mor-ev-cap-proposal-august.pdfView attachment mor-ev-cap-proposal-august.pdf
There’s a proposal from a staffer at the MA Zero Emission Vehicle Commission to eliminate the MA state tax credit for the purchase of an EV above a certain dollar amount, $60K. I think we can make a difference in this process and I’m asking you to take about 5 minutes of your time right now, this moment, today, to read this email and take a step. We need to take steps TODAY because it turns out that the commission is meeting at 10 am TOMORROW and this proposal is on their agenda!
Please be polite in your comments on this thread and in whatever you post elsewhere as there is a fellow Tesla owner on the commission and an environmental representative from the Sierra Club who is responsible for their EV initiatives and is friendly to the Tesla community.
If you want to get right to the steps I’m suggesting, you can skip to NEXT STEPS.
Here is my perspective:
1. Funds are not running out in the program. The program is working as it should. Tesla is broadening its offerings to include an SUV (starting to ship in December) and a mass-market offering, the Model 3, to be unveiled as a prototype in the first half of 2016 and anticipated to ship by year’s end 2017. We should be encouraging such offerings, not hindering them. Therefore, there’s no need to take action any time soon.
2. If somebody feels that it is important for some reason to make a change, I think the proposal to limit state assistance to vehicles based on vehicle MSRP has it all backwards. Instead, assistance should be based on two factors.
(1) The practicality of the EV in question. The program is trying to accelerate the adoption of alternatives to gas-powered vehicles. But most (all?) EVs today, other than Tesla, are impractical. They have limited range (e.g., <100 miles) and lengthy recharging times. They are unsuitable for travel outside the owner’s local area, therefore limited even within Massachusetts! Assistance from MA should be targeted towards the most practical vehicles, such as those with ranges of 200 miles or more and the ability to recharge rapidly, especially on road trips (Supercharger network, including Superchargers right here in MA at Auburn Mall, Sagamore bridge, Dedham, and nearby in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont).
Assistance should be targeted for electric vehicles that can fully REPLACE a gas-powered car, rather than for vehicles that cause owners to rely on having a second, gas-powered car.
I know a Tesla can replace a gas car, as my 2013 Tesla P85+ replaced my Audi A4.
Ironically, the commission’s proposal to place a “cap” on the MSRP of an EV that qualifies for the tax credit is predicated in part on the revelation that most Tesla purchasers don’t seriously consider any other electric vehicles. But that’s penalizing the purchasers and the manufacturer for making a great CAR that is actually USABLE as a gas-vehicle replacement! The proposed cap affects these current vehicles: Cadillac ELR, Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid, and BMW i8. But we as owners know that these are not in fact desirable cars. The Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid has limited electric range and relies heavily on its gas engine. The BMW i8 is completely impractical except as a midlife crisis car and has a microscopic electric range, relying on its gas engine; and the Cadillac ELR has its own limitations. The vehicles that continue to be eligible under this proposal are exactly the vehicles that are impractical or rely on gas engines or both.
(2) The program could also consider the need of the purchaser. For example, the tax credit could be fully available to purchasers with incomes of $200,000 per year or less and then phased out in stages until it hit zero for purchasers with incomes of $300,000 per year or more. Such a structure would help everyone aspire to replace their gas vehicles with the most practical EVs.
If the ZEV commission were to adopt this approach, it would further be a good idea to RAISE the tax credit to $5,000, since the tax credit would then be better targeted towards the goals of enhancing EV adoption and assisting MA residents in their purchase of such a vehicle. Note that in Louisiana, the current tax credit is $8,000; one would think that Massachusetts has at least equal financial resources to Louisiana.
NEXT STEPS
===========
1. Look at the attached list of members of the ZEV commission. If you know someone on the commission, please call or write or FAX them. Please feel free to include any/all of the points I’ve made above; best to do it in your own words.
2. Send an email to the staff person most responsible, Linda Benavides, whose email address is [email protected]. Please remember: be polite!
3. Join me at the commission meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, November 18, at 10 a.m. The address is:
100 Cambridge Street
Boston, MA
The meeting is being held on the second floor in conference rooms B, C and D.
The meeting is open to the public but the public does NOT have the opportunity to speak at the meeting.
If you can’t come to the meeting tomorrow — and, honestly, I have trouble imagining how most people could, with one day’s notice and the meeting happening during the prime working day — but you agree with the direction I’m heading on this issue, then please make me “your delegate”. Send me your name and address and if you can your PICTURE, and I’ll work up some kind of poster or handout for the commission that lists all of us by name and face so that they will know we are speaking out about the issue!
I’m going to be sitting in the audience with a poster, such as Elon’s Secret Master Plan to get to the Model III, and if I know you are coming to the meeting I’ll bring some extra posters.
4. Please forward this issue to other owners who you think will care. Non-MA owners can help by tweeting, re-sending, face booking, generally making the news known, and particularly reaching out to other owners in MA.
Thanks,
Alan
Enc.: (1) MA ZEV Commission Members chart and (2) EV CAP proposal
2015 Massachusetts Zero Emission Vehicle Commission Members
Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) Commission Members named by title in FY2015 Budget outside Section 205 | Members | |
Chair, Secretary of EEA or Designee | Ned Bartlett, Undersecretary | |
Assistant Secretary of EEA, Energy | Ron Gerwatowski | |
Assistant Secretary of EEA, Environment | Dan Sieger | |
Secretary of Transportation or Designee | Rob Garrity | |
Commissioner of Energy Resources | Judith Judson | |
Commissioner of MassDEP | Martin Suuberg | |
Deputy Director of the Division of Standards | Charles Carroll | |
Appointed by the Mayor of the City of Boston | Gina Fiandaca Commissioner of Boston Transportation Department and Vineet Gupta, Director of Planning | |
(2) Appointed by Massachusetts Municipal Association | Andrew Savitz, City of Newton | |
| ||
ZEV Members Appointed or Nominated for Appointment | ||
Rep. of the Environmental Community | Jennifer Rushlow (Conservation Law Foundation) | |
Mark LeBel (Acadia Center) | ||
Gina Coplon-Newfield (Sierra Club) | ||
Rep. of Business Community | Jeff Hyman (EMD Serono) | |
Mark Foster (Tufts Health) | ||
Rep. of parking garage or lot owners or operators | Jong Wai Tomee (Mass Convention Center Authority) | |
Rep. of an electric distribution company | Watson Collins (Eversource Energy) | |
Fouad Dagher (National Grid) | ||
Franchised motor vehicle dealers with Class 1 license (recommended by Mass Autodealers Association) | Scott Dube (Dube Hyundai) | |
Robert Boch (Expressway Toyota) | ||
Rep. of a municipal light plant organization | Kim Boas (Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company) | |
Rep. of EV charging infrastructure manufacturers | Colleen Quinn (ChargePoint) | |
Dan Shanahan (EVSE LLC) | ||
Rep. of hydrogen fueling infrastructure manufacturers | Gus Block (Nuvera Fuel Cells, Inc.) | |
Rep. of electric or fuel cell vehicle manufacturers | Kevin Kinnaw (Toyota) | |
Tracy Woodard (Nissan) | ||
Alex Keros (General Motors) |
View attachment mor-ev-cap-proposal-august.pdfView attachment mor-ev-cap-proposal-august.pdf