What will it take to make you seriously consider an EV?

Just save everyone some time and have your boss test drive and make the deal.

 

Absolutely. And yet a lot of people that Italk to do not seem to get this.

If you own a EV, you should crunch some numbers. If your total monthly electric bill is approaching $200, you should consider going Solar. Go solar, with 110%+ offset, pay around the same monthly for solar instead of paying your utility company. This way your monthly amount is going towards owning your solar panel instead of washing down the drain by paying monthly utility bill. Once you pay off your solar, you are running your car on free solar energy. Free of gas and electric utility bill!! It’s a game changer!

Don’t forget that with the new bill the federal tax rebate for solar is back to 30%!!!

Here in Massachusetts electricity cost went up dramatically past few months. We were already high at about 25 cents per kWh. Now we are at almost 41 cents per kWh unless your town has some temporary deals with National Electric. So Solar in Massachusetts is absolutely the way to go.

For me personally, with all EVs + level 2 home charging + powered with full Solar + net metering at 90 cents to a dollar, + access to Tesla supercharging network on long trips or on other rare occasions that I need it, means I should have close no transportation cost other than what I paid for the car upfront. Just some rare supercharger $$. The home setup takes care of energy cost, and supercharger access everywhere should I need it in a pinch, takes care of range anxiety for long distance trips.

Having a fully charged car sitting at home and never having to visit a gas station is a blessing.

If you don’t own solar or don’t have great net metering rates, don’t forget to program your charging session so that charging starts late night during off peak hours, when it can be significantly cheaper. Depending on your EV or your charger you can set the schedule on either of them.

 

Lets take Ionic 5 as an example which many people were considering against the Model Y

Ionic 5 limited goes for 58k and does not qualify for tax credits. It has less range (less efficiency)and no access to Tesla supercharger network.

Tesla Model Y after tax breaks is $15k less.

A lot of Ionic 5 folks that were considering both cars a year ago understood that Model Y was the better car but were not willing to pay the price difference for it. Back then Ionic 5 qualified for the tax break but Tesla did not. So their justification was cost saving.

Now the Model Y is significantly cheaper than Ionic. Looks are subjective. But I doubt many people are going to be too excited to pay $15k more for a better Hyundai interior when they are losing 15k and a host advantages that Tesla offers in categories important to an EV.

Sales of Ionic 5 has declined since June of last year. Hyundai dealers are actually calling people to ask if they would be interested in buying it. You think it’s going to get better for them after the massive price cut and tax rebate from Tesla?

And I haven’t even accounted for dealer markups for non Teslas. If you account for these you could be looking at 20k price difference lol

Similar situation with ID4. Poor charging speeds, poor range, lack of across to Tesla network and an outdated infotainment system. With the new pricing, the Model Y is a far superior offering for not much difference.

Same arguments for Mustang Mach E.

That higher price difference that was keeping the Model Y away from a lot of people (66k and no tax incentive) is now gone. Now you can have it for 47k after price slash and tax credit. Thats close to 20k swing lol. For even less with state incentives!

Also, the biggest difference to most EV owners once they actually own an EV is the lack of access to of good non Tesla charging network. I have seen so many people switch because of this alone. I can’t emphasize the importance of having a good and reliable charging network if you own an EV.

Which is why if you go these car’s forums, you have people wishing they had known Tesla was going to slash prices and waited or are actively canceling orders.

My decision isn’t going to be emotional on a 50k purchase. It’s going to be based on objectivity and what I am getting for my money. I would like to think that more people are going to be doing the same.

Sales number will tell the story.

 

I hope this is just Chat-GTP.

 

I need help understanding the EV Federal tax credit.

So from what I can tell, if I buy a vehicle now, I will get the credit next year (with my 2023 tax return). Is that right? I usually get back money when I do my taxes. So if I normally get, say, $5,000, will I now get $12,500? Is that how it works?

I am confused.

 

From what I understand it’s non refundable. If you owe $7500…you can cut it down to 0
if you owe 5000…you don’t get 2500 back.

 

But I always get money back when I do my taxes, so does that mean I'll get none of the $7,500?

 

That is correct.

You better adjust your W2 so that you will owe at least $7500 in federal taxes, when you do your taxes. Make them cut less from each paycheck.

Worse comes to worse, take enough out for your 401k to owe $7500 in taxes and dump it into Roth IRA for tax free growth., and then claim the $7500 EV credit.

Here’s another tip. The 30% federal tax credit for EV chargers installed at home is back with the new bill! This applies to both the EV chargers purchase cost AND cost of labor and is capped at $1000.

So you should installing a level 3 home charger and you should preparing to get upto $8500 back!

Also, there are several things to consider when you are installing EV charger at home. I can give you some tips, should you need it.

Another tip: You should be avoiding getting a massive tax refund regardless. Better to owe than them holding onto your $$. Make your $$ work for you and earn money and then pay what you owe.

 

Up to $7,500 credit (treated just like all the other tax credits) when you file your 2023 return in 2024. Income limits apply. If you’re single and make more than $150,000, or married making more than $300,000, you don’t get the credit.

 

Hmmmmm.
It’s about tax liability.

 

No - you get money back because you paid too much. You have to look at your year's tax liability. Examples:

You paid $10,000 throughout the year
You only owed $8000 in reality.
You get $2000 back at tax time.
In this scenario, you'd get the full $7500 credit since your tax liablity was more than $7500. (So you'd get $9500 back if you had bought the car)

You paid $10,000 throughout the year
You only owed $4000 in reality.
You get $6000 back at tax time. (fixed!)
In this scenario, you'd get the $4000 credit since your tax liability caps out there.

You paid $10,000 throughout the year
You only owed $0 in reality.
You get $10,000 back at tax time.
In this scenario, you'd get no credit since you had no tax liability.

This all assumes you meet the income requirement. This is also a gimmick to some degree for the few few months, as I believe the Tesla credit potentially drops in half around March?

 

This is correct except for the typo in scenario B where you get $6000 back.

It doesn't matter how much your work withheld. All that matters is your tax liability. It's one of the lines on your tax return form, I forget which.

 

Not sure about zero tax credit for buying a used EV (which we did). We were on the fence between a new ICE or a used EV and chose EV, which seems to be for the greater good, if that's the idea of the tax incentive. In fact, a lot less pollution and nastiness for getting a used car of any kind. Meh, anyway.

 

What you get back has nothing to do with your actual taxes. It's just that you paid in more than you owed. So you probably still paid taxes. Example:

Owed: 10,000
Paid in: 15,000
Refund: 5,000

So let's say you did the car deal, could instead be now:
Owed: 2,500 (typical 10,000 less credit of $7,500)
Paid in: 15,000
Refund: 12,500

You have to look at more than just your refund. Obviously there's other limits. I'm just point out the fact that getting money back doesn't necessarily mean you didn't pay taxes. It's important to look at your net tax rate, not your refund.

 

If you want to publicly charge the car or ever take a trip the Tesla is the best practical choice.

Most ev's are toys for the well off that get used as subsidized second cars so they might lose more market share.

 

Now I get it! Thank you.

Thanks to @Zboy & @Buck Turgidson & @Sajan & @K LoLo as well! I realize it's annoying to have to spell things out like that, but as you can tell I am ignorant on the subject.

I wonder if I can log into TurboTax to see what my withholding and liability were for last year, as I would expect it to be similar for 2022 and 2023.

 

You absolutely can -- first you need to open an account which will require choosing a user name and password.
______

• Go to the Intuit accounts page.

• Select the Create an account link.

• Enter your email address and phone number.

• Note: If you see a "This user ID is already taken" message, you may have an account.

• Select the Sign in or the Recover your account link and enter your email address.

• Create a password.

• When you're ready, select Create Account.

• Good luck!