Electric Vehicle News Items

[MrNubbz]

[Cincydawg]

We recently bought a hybrid, the "HEV" above.  I don't see anything inherently wrong with them.  

[847badgerfan]

There are income limits on the subsidy at least.  My primary complaint however has no apparent solution.

I guess they might subsidize public charging rate someday.

My trust fund SIL in Bel Air got the $7,500.00. Maybe not much income, but she is wealthy ($60 Million or so).

[MrNubbz]

[Cincydawg]

You may qualify for a credit up to $7,500 under Internal Revenue Code Section 30D if you buy a new, qualified plug-in EV or fuel cell electric vehicle (FCV). The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 changed the rules for this credit for vehicles purchased from 2023 to 2032.
The credit is available to individuals and their businesses.
To qualify, you must:

• Buy it for your own use, not for resale
• Use it primarily in the U.S.

In addition, your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) may not exceed:

• $300,000 for married couples filing jointly or a surviving spouse
• $225,000 for heads of households
• $150,000 for all other filers

[Cincydawg]

I looked pretty hard at the math recently as we were in the market.  I got the hybrid.

[847badgerfan]

In addition, your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) may not exceed:

• $300,000 for married couples filing jointly or a surviving spouse
• $225,000 for heads of households
• $150,000 for all other filers

Again, I'm thrilled to be helping people that make more money than I do.

Of course, in 2020, my trust fund SIL voted for... you know.

[Cincydawg]

Obviously, it's not really about helping buyers as much as helping the industry.  I can appreciate AT TIMES government may need to assist some nascent industry.  I'd note that this assistance often comes with long strings and a lot of paperwork, and at times their assistance is unneeded.  But government now is so deep into our economy, this sort of thing is pretty routine.  We're dumping billions into the chip industry, not to mention wind and solar etc.

I keep seeing claims we have a subsidy for the oil industry, but from what I can discern, that is not technically correct, they do get some normal tax credits and allowances.

One of the biggest effective subsidies may be in the health care arena.

[847badgerfan]

I could see something like this one for us.

Used 2020 Volvo XC90 Hybrid T8 Inscription 6 Passenger For Sale $43,998 | Cars.com

Or this one, a little smaller.

Used 2021 Volvo XC60 Recharge Plug-In Hybrid T8 Inscription Expression For Sale $34,999 | Cars.com

Not sure I like the plug-in idea.

[Cincydawg]

As you can plug in at home, I think it's a decent concept.  I lean to think "we" are going to plug in hybrids down the road, not full EVs.  The Cali mandate includes them, so that is their dodge if needed.

[bayareabadger]

A friend of mine recently tried a rental experience with an EV. Did not go particularly well. There’s just a lot of little nits and annoyances you have to deal with. 

And you always have to keep a little bit in your mind how much charge you have and where you can recharge. That experiance makes you really appreciate gas pumps. 

A coworker has a plug in hybrid and seems to like it. Most of the driving is off the charge, assuming you don’t forget to plug in. Seems like a higher-utility experience at the moment. 

[Cincydawg]

Were I working in California and owned my home, I'd be quite interested in a PHEV (plug in).  They usually have more power than the pure ICE or even hybrid version.  Assuming my job was 15 miles from home, I could get by most of the time on pure electric, recharge at home which is cheaper than gas, and probably be able to charge at some workplaces.  

The downsides is I would need to remember to plug it in at home, even using 220v would be fine, and the battery might well be down to ~50% after 10-12 years.

[847badgerfan]

I have room on my panel to add a 220 V circuit. But do you need that for a plug-in hybrid?

[Cincydawg]

No, you can use 110 v on a PHEV.*  They only have 30-35 miles of range, and 110v will charge at 3-4 miles per hour of charging.  So, ten hours would do it, less if not fully discharged.

*This is my assumption, I would check on it with the vehicle of interest.