EV Legislation- self-serving automakers and dealers

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum

Help Support Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jray3

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
1,871
Location
Tacoma area, WA
Washington State has a sales tax exemption for EVs that was hastily amended last year to exclude any vehicle that sells for over $35k final purchase price in order to minimize the "subsidizing rich liberals" argument.
That arbitrary cutoff immediately impacted the sales of higher-trim LEAF models and the KIA SOUL EV.
A fix was proposed to make it a simpler tax exemption for the first $35,000 spent on a new EV. That was subsequently muddled to the first $34k of vehicles priced under $42,500 MSRP. Messy, but better than the status quo.
However at the last minute TESLA decided to interject and got a poison pill substituted which would exempt only households with an adjusted gross income below $150k/single or $250k/dual income. That essentially pushes wealthier households towards TESLA, even if they would otherwise purchase a cheaper car. It's also a big deal because Washington state has no income tax and supposedly doesn't track our household incomes...

TESLA will lose my support in many ways if they try to throw their weight around in such a self-serving manner. If you agree, here are the apparent offenders' contact info. following a synopsis from our Seattle EV Association legislative coordinator, who's fast action has killed the pill, I am happy to report, and the bill also appears to have just passed out of our house of representatives.
-----------SNIP from SEVA----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our friends at Tesla Motors are sponsoring a poison pill intended to kill the precarious EV sales tax bill. They have apparently concluded they'd rather see no EV bill this year rather than see a bill that continues to exclude the most expensive cars (but includes the Model 3). Please, if you care about getting the Model 3 the next gen Leaf, the Chevy Bolt, and the BMW i3 into the EV sales write to the gentlemen below right now. This tactic is unacceptable on the eve of their Model 3 launch.
 
FYI, FWIW

The 'poison pill' was dropped by its sponsor and the bill now sits on our governor's desk! In the final approved version, it exempts the first $32,000 of a new EV purchase from sales taxes, worth up to $3152 in some local cities. The kicker is, it only applies to EVs with an MSRP starting below $42,500. That means the base model of the line must list for under $42,500 but the sale price can be more. This keeps all BMW i3 sales under the cap, but taxes the full sale amount on all TESLA S and X (though the III should be exempt).

All in all, a very successful outcome. I even got a personal message from the TELSA lobbyist who reiterated their support for a means-tested tax credit or a fixed exemption amount for all EV purchases, over which normal sales taxes apply. He pinned a lot of the blame on GM lobbying for the reason the bill got overcomplicated.
 
Back
Top