Since 2010, buyers of quali ed plug-in electric-drive vehicles have been eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500. These credits are available for the rst 200,000 customers of each auto company producing eligible vehicles. To date, Tesla has sold nearly 100,000 vehicles, which would put the company near the halfway point of its 200,000 federal tax credit allotment assuming its customers received the credit. Nissan, which is expected to debut a second-generation Leaf next year, is about halfway through its credit allotment. General Motors, which has the Bolt and Volt among others, is expected to run out of credits at some point in late 2018 or 2019.
Federal tax credits for EVs are a part of broader set of EPA policies, which require congressional approval to adjust. So the Trump administration may
not eliminate them prematurely but is unlikely to extend these credits. Without these credits, this market is likely to crash. While President Trump did not address federal EV tax credits speci cally in his 2018 budget blueprint released last month, he proposed the elimination of funding for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, which would have assisted future EV production.
Without these credits, this market is likely to crash.