Proposal for increased EV battery subsidies

A great way of approaching it. Less for the naysayers to gripe about.
The removal of the $2000 cap off the 30 percent Solar rebate has to have made a big difference in Solar orders (though probably offset by a down economy).

The line "It can also be assumed that over time, technological innovation will bring battery costs down." might be made more absolute since batteries actually are improving by 8% per year (or so it is said).

I agree increasing subsidies are important and easier to swallow for the public than higher gas taxes, though we really should be doing both. Carrot and stick sort of thing. Frankly I think a 50 cents a gallon fuel tax is quite reasonable while prices are low but becomes onerous as we approach $3 per gallon. The argument against a sliding gas tax is that gas will automatically move towards the higher price and eliminate the tax, which is probably accurate.
Since we know the only thing really holding back EV's at this point is high battery prices the easiest way to remedy that is to cut prices through subsidies. It'd be nice if those subsides could be applied to the thousands of us DIY types as well.

Siry,

You'll probably get a consensus from this board regarding your suggestion, but it seems like selling the idea of subsidies to other groups that may be opposed.

I tend to like the national defense argument more than the emissions rationale, as most right-wingers may be willing to climb on board at that point. Why not cater to both camps?

And the tax hike on gassers will have some serious problems when legislators deicde to tax per mile rather than per-gallon (so the conversions pay their dues). Just a thought.

Otherwise, I don't mind paying a buck more per gallon so long as it isn't going to the Saudis.

siry said:

I have just written a post suggesting the removal of the current cap of 16kWh on the battery subsidy that was recently enacted. I would welcome your feedback here or on my blog.

Darryl Siry's Blog: If not a gas tax, increased battery subsidies

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I heard there was a proposal to increase the subsidies to $10k. It would make sense to remove the cap though in this situation.

stopcrazypp said:

I heard there was a proposal to increase the subsidies to $10k.

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Yeah, I read about that a few days ago. Appears, though, that it's tied to vehicle weight instead of battery capacity.

Green Car Congress: Senate Finance Committee Markup Proposes Doubling PHEVs Eligible for Tax Credits to 500,000 Units

The credit for light-duty PHEVs (up to 10,000 lbs.), with a minimum battery pack capacity of 4 kWh, ranges from $2,500 to $7,500.

This maximum amount increases to $10,000 for vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds but not more than 14,000 pounds, to $12,500 for vehicles weighing more than 14,000 pounds but not more than 26,000 pounds, and to $15,000 for vehicle weighing more than 26,000 pounds.

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