[dhc02]

I may be the only one, but I was under the impression this whole time that all EV tax credits were for consumers who buy EVs, not companies who sell them.

[cco]

They are, but typically what automakers will do is assume the tax credit on your behalf and just give you $7,500 off the price of your car up front. They will then collect $7,500 come tax day.

That's a win-win all around, the consumer saves $7,500 off the list price up front, they have to finance less etc, and Tesla gets a tax credit.

[blake1]

There were vehicle sourcing credits in the Inflation Reduction Act, which are granted per kWh of battery with sufficient domestic mineral content. Was $4,000/vehicle if I recall.

[486sx33]

lol! No no, this America! Automakers are actually buying and selling EV credits to eachother. Tesla often would have been in a loss position and possibly bankrupt if the big 3 auto makers weren’t buying credits from Tesla so they could get their fleet averages down and keep making trucks and SUVs.

[staticlink]

It amounts to the same thing, no?

[sudosysgen]

Definitely not, no. Credits on profits incentivize short term profit taking, while credits in products incentivize number of units shipped. The second is much better for society. Think about it from the perspective of a company deciding between selling low margin cheap EVs in the short term before process efficiencies kick in, or selling expensive EVs now.

[smsm42]

Those are different credits. There are (if they didn't expire yet, don't remember) federal tax credits for buyers, but separate system is for manufacturers where if you make cars, you need to make some of them EV, or buy credits from somebody who does (e.g. Tesla).