Since the inception of the Chevy Volt program in 2006, GM's goal has been to offer the range extended electric vehicle for a sub-$30,000 price point. That level has always been seen as the threshold to get high-volume sales of an electric car. Unfortunately, lithium ion batteries remain far too expensive to be able to sell the car at that price profitably. In order to help make the Volt less financially painful both for the manufacturer and consumers, GM is lobbying Congress to pass a new batch of tax breaks for plug-in vehicles. There has been on-going debate in Congress for some time about tax credits for plug-in hybrids and GM wants to make sure that ER-EVs are specifically included. A credit of $7,000 for the purchase of such a vehicle seems to be the target point. According to GM sources cited by Automotive News (subs req'd) a $30,000 price seems unlikely unless tax credits are passed by Congress and the White House. No $30K Chevy Volt without Congress' help - AutoblogGreen
The implementation of plug-in vehicles needs to be gradual, over several years or a decade ... in order to allow the electricity infrastructure adequate time to adapt to the increased demand. If the government uses their brains and realizes this, rebates will be volume-limited.
It's awfully nice of GM to blaze the trail by introducing rebates for Toyota's impending plug-in Prius.
Good for GM. If the goobermint wants to really help us then they need to do whatever GM and Toyota want in regard to putting EVs on the road. It is not like it is the government's money in the first place. Heck give GM 7k and the buyer a 7k tax credit. Even let people break the tax credit up over several years. These are ALL man made problems that can be overcome if the idiots in D.C. are willing to do what it takes. Look it. I am a gun loving, about to be former truck driving, spent the last 14 years in the military, not too sure about "man-made" global warming redneck. Even I realize our dependence on oil is causing us irreparable harm. Thomas Edison had electric taxis in the early 1900's in new York city, what the heck are we doing?!:horn:
I've read repeatedly that the grid as it is today can handle up to 80% of the cars as PHEVs or EVs. The grid is actually strengthened by plug-ins.
Nothing wrong with tax credits of any amount for electric cars. It costs more for American companies to make cars--higher union labor costs--so allow them more tax credits. The consumers benefit. The government spends money a whole lot worse ways. Nobody wants to see GM and Ford fold. Too many jobs at stake here. Both companies have bad management--missed the boat on small car hybrids--concentrating on bigger vehicles instead.
Tax deductions for low-emission fuel sippers are fine. Pay for them by eliminating production incentives for oil companies and eliminating tax deductions for other classes of vehicles. It will also be necessary to induce business to install recharge outlets in their parking lots free for use by employees and customers. This can be done by making those outlets a condition of keeping the tax deduction businesses now receive for their parking spaces.
One of the biggest mistakes the goobermint made was allowing people to write off their SUVs on their taxes. My wife is a CPA and she had tons of people buy gigantic SUVs because they could get the tax break. The most powerful thing our idiotic politicians can do is put in massive tax breaks( not a subsidy) and get out of the way.
I'm sure all those gargantuan, gas-guzzling, luxury SUVs (like Escalades, Navigators, Aviators, X5s, and Cayennes) which got the tax break were used exclusively for business-purposes, too. What's worse, the $25k tax deduction for buying a vehicle with a GVW over 6,000 lbs to 'help out small businesses' (yeah, right) never had any kind of expiration clause, while the $3150 tax credit for buying a Prius was incrementally halved until it completely evaporated as predetermined sales levels were quickly met.
Before I bought anything GM I would have to make sure the lemon law in my state was very strongly consumer oriented, because as we all know "GM sweats the recalls". I not so sure that they will get this one correctly either.
I agree except that this is our money. It's just being recycled back to us as a useful rebate to encourage new technologies and to allow us to save fuel. I'm all for it. $7000 for a 50 mi gas-free option and $10000 for a 100 mi gas-free option. Source of funds: charge every BOF SUV owner $200 per year.
If GM and Ford folded, it would not only be the jobs. It would be the dealers also! (thousands of small businesses across America) Plus, investors (everyday people with 401Ks, mutual funds, other American investors, lenders and banks...) would lose Billions of dollars! Their American suppliers that make the parts that GM buys would also go out of business (a domino effect). Even worse, America will lose their spot in the major auto industry. All of the technology that GM and Ford have built up over the years, the designers, their marketing and business partnerships would all be lost. Ten years down the road, if someone wanted to start a new car company, they would have to start from scratch, and that would be VERY difficult to compete with Toyota and Honda. Profit or not, GM and Ford REVENUE is a part of U.S. GDP, and that would fall significantly as well. There are many other aspects, such as social issues of not just the laid-off workers but Americans as a whole ... a sense of loss.
