Getting an electric vehicle could get more expensive if President Trump’s budget bill passes, taking away a tax credit for an increasingly popular way to drive.
That’s got the electric vehicle industry, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, charged up. He says slashing incentives to go electric could be “incredibly destructive.”
Ashlee Wright and her husband are Tesla owners. She spent her lunch break charging at a northeast Minneapolis Target parking lot.
“We are on our lunch break. We will eat our salads, putz around Target for a while, do some grocery shopping,” she said.
When she was shopping for a new car, she felt like she was saving.
“I believe it was $4,000, and it was taken off the original sales price,” Wright said.
Right now, federal tax credits for new EVs pay up to $7,500. For used EVs, it’s up to $4,000. That could go away.
“They are comfortable, quiet, efficient, cheap, you don’t have to bring your car in to get serviced as often,” said John Abraham, a professor at the University of St. Thomas.
When Abraham isn’t driving his EV, he’s teaching mechanical engineering.
“I am a climate scientist, so I have to put my money where my mouth is, so that was really my motivator,” Abraham said. “But now my perspective has changed a little bit because I realize how good these products are.”
And he got tax credits.
“I think it was around $6,000 or $7,000. I didn’t realize those rebates were an offer until I went in, so it was like a little bonus,” Abraham said.
He thinks even if credits go away, EVs will stick around.
“It will soften demand, but it will not ruin the market at all,” Abraham said. “The EV market is here to stay. Some people make their decisions based on wanting to become a good steward for the environment, but other people are making the decision based on their pocketbook. And we’ve reached a point with this technology where you can save money and the environment at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.”
So he says the credits to buy are incentives, not inspiration.
As for Ashlee Wright and her purchase, she says, “I think we would have either way, but it was a nice perk.”
