Plug In America! $12.5 Billion for PHEVs and Infrastructure

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

The federal stimulus bill delivered unto America’s nascent plug-in electric vehicle industry some $12.5 billion of your hard-earned tax money for plug-in vehicles and infrastructure. I mean, why not? You gotta spend your way out of a recession, right? Politics aside, nothing. The details of the deal are coming to light, thanks to the plugged-in cheerleaders at Plug In America. The website congratulates all those who helped the government distort the market on their behalf, especially themselves.

Therefore, the historic bill, which has a tax credit of up to $7,500 per vehicle, has the potential to stimulate the sale of more than one-and-a-half million plug-in vehicles.

The President has called for one million plug-ins by 2015, and while Plug In America would like to reach that number even sooner, this provision will do wonders in helping us to meet Obama’s goal.

* $2 billion for advanced battery manufacturing,
* $2B A credit of $2,500 to $7,500, depending on size of battery,1 for electric-drive vehicles under 14,000 pounds GVWR sold after December 31, 2009:

o The credit will phase out by maker. Each maker will get 100% credit for 200,000 vehicles, and all additional vehicles sold in the first quarter after the quarter containing the date at which the manufacturer hits the 200,000 limit. The “phaseout” period begins in the following quarter.o In the first and second quarter of the “phaseout,” all electric-drive vehicles sold by this manufacturer get 50% of the previous credit.o In the third and fourth quarter of the “phaseout,” all electric vehicles get 25% of the previous credit.o After the fourth quarter, there is zero credit for electric drive vehicles from this manufacturer.o There does not appear to be a termination date for this portion of the bill (unlike the low speed and conversion kit terminations, you could take until, say, 2015 to get to your 200k).o There does not appear to be a limit to the number of vehicle manufacturers that can qualify for this process.

* 10% separate consumer tax credit for 2-3 wheeled vehicles (up to $25,000 for a $2500 tax credit). This incentive helps the most affordable and already available vehicles including electric motorcycles and enclosed 3 wheelers like Aptera, Persu Mobility, and Myers Motors. Vehicles must have a minimum of 2.5 kWH or battery energy. Sunsets 12/31/2011.

* 10% credit for low speed electrified vehicles, up to $2,500 until December 31, 2011.

* 10% credit for conversion kits up to $40,000 credit until December 31, 2011. To qualify, conversion kits must still meet Clean Air requirements.

* $1.7B 30% credit for advanced energy investments, such as plug-in vehicle manufacture,

* $54M for tax credits on Alternative Refueling Property (including EV/PHEV charging)

(they raised the limit from 30% and $30,000 to 50% and $50,000 until 1/1/2011)
(also increased the residential refueling property tax credit to 50% capped at $2000)
(This is a TARP modification)

* $400 million for deployment of plug-in infrastructure and vehicles.

* $300 million to regional deployment of electric drive and alternative fuel vehicles.

* $300 million for the federal purchase of commercially available high-efficiency vehicles (including hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric vehicles) to remain available until September 30, 2011.

* $10 million additional for administration of Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturer Loan Program and $6 billion additional to Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee program which could go to plug-ins.

And: $6 billion goes to for grants under the EISA (Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007) for the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturer Grant Program which was approved but wasn’t funded before. This program provides grant funding like the loan funding to help automakers retool to make much more fuel efficient vehicles like EVs and PHEVs.


Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • SexCpotatoes SexCpotatoes on Feb 23, 2009

    Gasoline is the fuel of the future. That is all.

  • Landcrusher Landcrusher on Feb 23, 2009

    retardedsparks, So, would you be willing to forego all the government meddling and incentives for YOUR favorite programs in exchange for the others doing the same? Or do you just want to make an argument that this is somehow "fair" because you believe that the oil companies have been propped up by uncle sugar for years, so we should do the same for electrics? BTW, if you want to put military expenditures in the credit column for oil companies, think again. It's a consumer bailout, not a corporate subsidy.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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