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WA State EV Sales Tax Exemption Updated

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March needed 660 cars to hit 7,500. The previous record was ~430, and was the only month over 400 in 3 years. Average is 275. That's a huge jump if it happened.
It's definitely possible imo. For whatever reason (stock price, etc.), Tesla really seems to cram the deliveries into the last week or two of each quarter. It actually drives me nuts as it's certainly not optimal in terms of quality or customer experience, but it is what they do.
 
March needed 660 cars to hit 7,500. The previous record was ~430, and was the only month over 400 in 3 years. Average is 275. That's a huge jump if it happened.
I suspect that in addition to the quarter end surge of both M3s & Bolts that the February count was under-reported (As I recall, 77) and missing data spilled over into March.
 
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DOL and DOR have not updated their web sites yet, so I am not sure whether we hit 7,500 cars in March, or if they simply feel confident that we will do so in April and intend to make the notification in April as well. But DOT says that the sales tax waiver will expire on May 31. Email I got today from [email protected]:

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Thinking of buying or leasing an electric car? Get it by May 31 to save up to $3,200.


Washington’s alternative fuel vehicle sales tax exemption is coming to an end. If you, your organization, or someone you know plans to buy or lease a new plug-in electric vehicle, please note that you must take delivery of the car by May 31, 2018 to qualify for the state’s sales tax incentive. Starting June 1, regular sales and use taxes will apply. See the message below for more information.





If you receive your vehicle after May 31, you will be required to pay all applicable sales tax.

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Alternative fuel vehicle sales tax exemption ENDS May 31
The Department of Revenue has notified the Washington State Auto Dealers Association that the alternative fuel vehicle sales tax exemption will end on May 31. To receive this tax exemption, your vehicle must be delivered on or before May 31, 2018.

The list of qualifying vehicles is available at http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/altfuelexemptions.html.

The exemption
  • Only applies to new vehicles.
  • Only applies to the first $32,000 of the selling price or total lease payments if the customer leased the vehicle prior to the exemption’s expiration.
  • Expires on the last day of the calendar month after the Department of Licensing determines that 7,500 vehicles have qualified for the exemption.
To qualify, a vehicle must:
  1. Have a base model MSRP under $42,500 and be on the list linked above; and
  2. Be a passenger car, light duty truck or medium duty passenger vehicles that:
  • Is exclusively powered by a clean alternative fuel; OR
  • Uses at least one method of propulsion that is capable of being re-energized by an external source of electricity and is capable of traveling at least thirty miles using only battery power.
If you are receiving your vehicle after May 31, 2018, you will be required to pay all applicable sales taxes.


track

Thanks for sharing this e-mail, ChadS. I wonder what the local Tesla folks can do to help those of us who might be getting close to the May 31st deadline. I just configured mine on Apr 10, no VIN yet, but will hopefully get delivery before the end of May.
 
I suspect that in addition to the quarter end surge of both M3s & Bolts that the February count was under-reported (As I recall, 77) and missing data spilled over into March.
Bolt didn't have much of a surge in March. 1774 vs 1424 in Feb, nationwide.

I think the chances of the exemption ending in May is very low. About the same as the chance of me getting Model 3 in May, having configured last week.
 
Let's hope so. It also depends on the config. In my case, I select aero wheels, which was maybe not a good idea because they are prioritizing sports wheels for some reason.

FYI, see this: Options dictating order of precedence?

They aren't prioritizing aeros, in fact they are making more aeros than sports. It's just that they are more backlogged on the aeros since a lot more people buy aeros.
 
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Here's hoping I can get in under the wire if the tax exemption program really does sunset on May 31st.

It's possible we might have trouble getting the cars by end of May if we don't organize a bit. If we want to Tesla proactively prioritize WA State, these days is the right time to do that because in a couple of weeks it will be too late.

See related discussion: Washington credits & fees - FAQ -
 
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On Sunday, 4/15, they sent out a batch of invites, and according to the spreadsheet, every single one was to WA. There are 17 new invites listed, which makes it a pretty small batch. No other batch of invites I can find went to a single state.

I think this is a pretty clear indication that Tesla is trying to max out the WA tax break and thinks they can get them delivered by the end of May.
 
For YTD, the average delivery time is 33 days, and the highest is 67 days.

If you ordered 4/10 and the tax incentive ends 5/31, then you have 51 days. 95% of cars have been delivered YTD within 51 days.
Interesting.

But then, every month is a new month. Looks like Tesla is ramping up above 2k a week in the last couple of weeks, hitting 2,800 this week. Hopefully things go smoothly.

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We Set Out to Crack Tesla's Biggest Mystery: How Many Model 3s It's Making
 
But then, every month is a new month. Looks like Tesla is ramping up above 2k a week in the last couple of weeks, hitting 2,800 this week. Hopefully things go smoothly.

This thread is all about if people will get cars by end of next month. Making more per week doesn't mean people get them quicker though. If they open up invites at the same rate as production increases, the same 3-6 weeks is maintained. In fact, Tesla likely wants to maintain a few weeks delay of order to VIN as it helps them plan ahead and manage suppliers. If they were production constrained against invites in the field, they wouldn't have opened up thousands of invites in the past few weeks.
 
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I did notice a couple invites from other states. But the lion's share was Seattle. It's possible this was not done specifically to help Washington residents, but either way, getting the invites means we have a decent shot at the tax exemption.