Comments on: Congressman Jay Inslee on the Status of Plug-in Vehicle Tax Credits

By: Tim Oakley

Tim Oakley — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:00:37 +0000

Wake up america, tax credits,(Incentives,…) fed. funding grants for research (on existing products) with no returns expected, will have to end. Pure research is worth the effort (space program cir. 60’s). Advanced materials were the result. Can you say: Electronics, glass ware, biomed. inst.. We are being mis-led by “Industry”, remember: crashworthiness standards (passenger compartment penetration, etc.) seatbelts, catalytic converters, airbags. All mandated as with a time limit for introduction in new vehicles. California’s ZEV was designed with an existing vehicle (EV-1) not vaporware. We are innovators, give us a problem to solve it will happen. GM used faulty batteries in gen.1 (delco’s), then Ovonics in gen.2 (50 mile range with short lived batt.s to 120 mile range with -> 10 year life). EX; Toyota Rav4-EV has a 100,000 mile club ( the few that did not get crushed). Federal reg.s should specify this as a min. in 2 years with a penalty of $xx per vehicle after due date. CAFE should be 40 mpg by 2020 cars, light trucks 30 mpg, heavy vehicles are already good but can get better (owners look at operating costs as well as purchase price). It is possible. We are addicted to OIL (have you seen GM tv commercial with the fuel logo’s about a car that does not exist.) I support buy american in this order (US co. mfr.d in US, US co for. mfr.d). My next vehicle will be 100% electric, I wish for US co. I have sent Email to Ford ( I own 2 Ford vehicles purch. new) stating this. I liked GM’s EV-1. I tell auto sales people this when i see them. I tell Citizens everywhere Buy US first (where will you work while you pay for that foreign item) Electric vehicles are possible, See: Tesla, Tzero, Solectria (they ran from boston to NY city on one charge in //’94) small co.’s making a difference, large co.’ selling more SUV.s. I wait for the VOLT (large batt.s, they are out there. ), or another US vehicle. But if I have to I will convert one of my own. I have already converted my housboat. 2mpg -> 33 mpg eq. Thank you for listening.

By: Jim I

Jim I — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:55:10 +0000

Car salesmen try to sell you what they have on the lot, so they get their commission now.

If they have to order you a car, then they have to wait to get paid.

They really do not care what you want, they just have to close the sale ASAP.

By: Need My Volts Now

Need My Volts Now — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:28:12 +0000

I would love to see a substantial tax credit on the Volt but chances are there will be a little one that will hardly make a difference. I also think GM will again shoot itself in the foot again by dragging its feet and let several other foreign car manufactures deliver the working plug in cars to the American public NEXT YEAR. By the time 2011 comes rolling around the market will be saturated by the other brands that it will not have a long production life. Why you ask— GM has this absurd belief that the American Car Buyer does not want something economical or environmentally sound. My last attempt to purchase a hybrid Vue at a Saturn dealership was quite interesting. The sales man did everything he could to talk me out of the hybrid Vue, telling me it is not worth it and I really would not get the benefit of the Hybrid unless I was going to keep it for more than a few years. I told Him that is what I really wanted and he told me that the gas mileage really was not that much of a difference from the regular gas engine. I then went to a Chevy dealership and pretty much heard the same story with one exception that the hybrid I was looking at was a Yukon and even with it being a hybrid the actual gas mileage wasn’t any better than 20 at best. HELLLO GM I am looking for 30+ MPG. There is a very limited array of GM cars that get that kind of gas mileage. If the VOLT were out now I would have three of them sitting in my driveway.

By: Mark Bartosik

Mark Bartosik — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:55:30 +0000

Clarification:

The $4000, that Jay Inslee talks of was in the 2007 Energy bill, and republicans in the Senate sold that out (as well as solar and wind tax credits) in favor of oil exploration tax credits.

Jay’s bill has a $3000 credit. However, it is not so easy for less senior members of Congress to get bills passed. So don’t hold your breath for that to get passed.

By: Steve Holtzclaw

Steve Holtzclaw — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:28:37 +0000

As a 2 time Honda Insight and current Prius owner and recipient of several previous tax incentives, I can attest that I would never have left “Buying American” if the less than intelligent leadership of US auto manufacturers had listened to our pleas earlier. I will buy a Volt sight unseen as soon as it becomes available. While tax incentives are welcome, I would much rather see the entire tax code thrown out along with the unconstitutional legislators that use taxes to manipulate our activities. Fair Tax 2008 …. go, go, go.

By: noel park

noel park — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:05:58 +0000

PJK, #87:

I could not agree with you more.

By: PJK

PJK — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:41:15 +0000

I’m all for tax credits… anything that will help get the all electric drive on the the road… I drove a EV1 for two days in LA … have been wanting a electric car ever since. Japan keeps all US autos out of Japan by adding at least $12K to every car the US tries to import. I say we do the same to their cars coming here. We even let them build plants in the US and pay no US taxes which gives them a $2K advantage per car over GM and FORD.. I don’t think the incentives should include the Japanese… they would never give incentive in Japan to buy American cars.

By: noel park

noel park — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:46:48 +0000

Tagamet. #85:

Well maybe this is just a hangover from going through all of the comments on today’s post about tax credits. Obviously, many people are opposed to the idea of a government, or governments if you include the states, which are essentially broke and operating on borrowed money, spending even more to incentivize something like the Volt.

I think that it’s legitimate to point out the spending priorities of said government(s), and the size of that spending, as a context for what those tax credits would cost. I am personally convinced that those credits would save us back many times their cost over time.

I believe that initiatives such as the Volt are inherently political at some level. Is our national interest best served by spending money to wean ourselves off imported oil, or fighting to defend the sources thereof? One can also make a case that the credits would pay for themselves in the lowering of the huge health costs of air pollution, never mind the national security issues.

For example, you could provide 3500 – $40,000 volt tax credits for the cost of one (1) F-22.

By: Tagamet

Tagamet — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:10:46 +0000

Noel,
Do you thinnk that politiciziing the Volt does anything to ADVANCE it? I know you have issues about which you are passionate, (so do I) but I thought that this list was about the Volt and the things we can do to “Get it’s wheels on the road”.

By: noel park

noel park — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:58:05 +0000

MikeJ, #79:

Not so far fetched, when you think of it. Some smart blogger said the other day that the war in Iraq costs $177 million/day. For that, you could give out $40,000 credits for 4425 Volts per day. Since the war goes on 365 days/year, that’s about 1.6 million Volts/year.

Of course the fully loaded cost of the war is much higher, but 1.6 million is probably more Volts than GM could produce in the first year anyway!

It’s pretty well acknowledged that the war has cost $1 Trillion so far. Many say 2, or even 3. $1 trillion would provide 25 million $40,000 tax credits, which would make a pretty good dent in oil consumption.

If the “endless war” continues much longer, $1 trillion is going to look pretty cheap.