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A $20k American-made electric pickup with no paint, no stereo, no screen

(www.theverge.com)
1457 points kwindla | 2 comments | 25 Apr 25 15:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.406s | source
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aidenn0 ◴[25 Apr 25 16:56 UTC] No.43795946[source]▶
For anyone curious, if you made a similarly sized gas-powered pickup with an i4 engine, it would be penalized more than a full-sized pickup for being too fuel inefficient, despite likely getting much better mileage than an F-150 because, since 2011, bigger cars are held to a lesser standard by CAFE[1].

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_average_fuel_economy...

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mtillman ◴[25 Apr 25 19:10 UTC] No.43797478[source]▶
Fine print: The truck in the link is only $20K after government subsidies/rebates. So if the government gives my tax dollars to buyers of this truck, then it will cost $20K.
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Brybry ◴[25 Apr 25 19:26 UTC] No.43797655[source]▶
Electric vehicle tax credits are non-refundable tax credits meaning you can't get a credit for more than you owe. [1][2]

Which means no one is getting your tax dollars to buy vehicles (though there may be some infrastructure or manufacturing grants for companies).

[1] https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF12600

[2] https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-credits-for-individuals-wha...

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1. tzs ◴[26 Apr 25 05:33 UTC] No.43801185[source]▶
However instead of taking the credit yourself you can transfer it to the dealer at time of purchase to use toward the purchase. You can transfer the full $7500 credit regardless of how much tax you eventually end up owing for the year.
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2. Brybry ◴[06 May 25 02:35 UTC] No.43901295[source]▶
That's an important point that I missed in my research, though it does seem like there are limitations? [1]

If the buyer's previous-year adjusted gross income is too high they still don't qualify, and if the buyer's purchase-year adjusted gross income is too high they can end up owing money to the IRS.

And dealers/sellers have to qualify and register but...

> Advance payments received by the registered dealer are not treated as a tax credit to the dealer and may exceed the dealer’s regular tax liability. Advance payments received by the registered dealer are not included in the gross income of the dealer.

That does read as a direct subsidy equivalent to a refundable tax credit straight from the general fund.

[1] https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/topic-h-frequently-asked-questi...