WA EV tax incentive update

ww73 said:

http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2015-16/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Passed%20Legislature/5987-S.PL.pdf

The interesting bits are on page 95-97. Too bad it's not like Google docs where you can see who made the change revisions.

Click to expand...

$35k is basically short-range BEVs and may exclude all but base Volt 2s since MSRP on Volt 2 LTZ will be ~$38k. Depends on "Fair Market Value" definition.

And $150/year? $150 = 15000c. 15000c/55.9c ~= 268.34 gal eq (Current WA total gasoline tax is 55.9c)
50 Prius mpg x 268.34 gal eq = 13,416 Prius miles eq

That's just utterly sickeningly obviously broken.

A better plan would be to exclude up to $35K (or whatever number the politicos can agree on) and apply it to any EV. Drops down the forfeited tax revenue for the high ticket cars while giving room for a lower cost purchase to add a couple of options without losing a significant incentive. Also provides some remaining incentive for folks that are stretching to buy a long range EV.

This is a dumb decision. I thought limiting the amount of sales tax exempted to $35,000 was actually a good proposal, but this version's hard cutoff just seems patently unfair. The point of these subsidies are not to help someone afford a car. There are (and will continue to be for quite some time) far cheaper ways of getting around than in an EV. The goal has always clearly been to get someone who is deciding which car to buy to lean towards purchasing an EV. It shouldn't matter if that person is considering a Leaf vs a Versa or a Tesla vs a Mercedes. Each decision towards an EV should be encouraged. It's not as if someone who can afford a $35,000 car suddenly can buy whatever they want and loses all regard for value. I just hope they change their mind before the Model 3 comes out.