[paulhart]

"affordable" is doing a LOT of work in that first sentence of the article.

[1970-01-01]

I'm surprised they didn't mention the thousands in fed, state, and sometimes local rebates. You can knock a very big chunk of change off the sticker price if you live in an EV friendly location.

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/manufacturers-and-mod...

https://electrek.co/2023/06/30/ev-tax-credit-rebate-states-e...

[gottorf]

> the thousands in fed, state, and sometimes local rebates

As recently as June, 85% of all EV buyers had a household income greater than $75k/year, with almost 40% making over $200k[0]. The median household income in the US is roughly $75k.

It seems wrong to me that policy is subsidizing the purchasing habits of the richer half of the population.

[0]: https://www.spglobal.com/mobility/en/research-analysis/first...

[1970-01-01]

>It seems wrong to me that policy is subsidizing the purchasing habits of the richer half of the population.

It isn't? There is no minimum income on the rebate. This is a red herring argument.

[dkasper]

A lot of people buying $78000 cars (even if $68000 with discounts) don’t qualify for the credits. I know I don’t.

[1970-01-01]

IMHO, the fed restrictions are extremely fair. Anyone that is unable to meet these requirements should not get a $7500 discount.

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/credits-for-new-clean...

[bombcar]

The biggest requirement is that you have $7500 in taxes to offset with the credit, afaik it’s not refundable.

[1970-01-01]

That was the old credit. The new credit is just a big rebate check. Many manufacturers just discount the price of the vehicle by this much and pocket the check. It will begin January 1st 2024.

[pfannkuchen]

Why not? The incentive is intended to increase EV adoption, not to help people buy cars generally. I don’t see how extending the incentive to all income levels would work against the goal.