Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
At the moment, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that the following fully electric vehicles are eligible for the $7,500 US ZEV tax credit:
Acura ZDX
Cadillac LYRIQ
Cadillac OPTIQ
Chevrolet Blazer EV
Chevrolet Equinox EV
Chevrolet Silverado EV
Ford F-150 Lightning
Honda Prologue
Jeep Wagoneer S
Kia EV6
Kia EV9
Tesla Cybertruck
Tesla Model 3 Long Range
Tesla Model 3 Performance
Tesla Model X AWD
Tesla Model Y Long Range
Tesla Model Y Performance
There’s concern that Republicans will soon repeal the ZEV tax credit, as Trump has basically promised to do so, but if you want to make sure you get the EV tax credit, you can buy any of those models today and immediately benefit from the US tax credit. (Note that sometimes only certain versions of those models are eligible for the tax credit.) As the DOE and EPA write:
“In accordance with new IRS regulations, beginning January 1, 2024, Clean Vehicle Tax Credits must be initiated and approved at the time of sale.
“Buyers are advised to obtain a copy of the IRS’s confirmation that a ‘time-of-sale’ report was submitted successfully by the dealer.
“Go to IRS publication 5900 to learn more!”
If you look at this list of electric vehicles on the US market, however, you can see that there are a lot of models that don’t qualify for the EV tax credit:
Acura ZDX
Audi e-tron GT
Audi Q4 e-tron
Audi Q6 e-tron
Audi Q8 e-tron
Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron
Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron
BMW i4
BMW i5
BMW i7
BMW iX
Cadillac LYRIQ
Chevy Blazer EV
Chevy Equinox EV
Chevy Silverado EV
Fiat 500
Ford E-Transit
Ford F-150 Lightning
Ford Mustang Mach-E
Genesis G80
Genesis GV60
Genesis GV70
GMC Hummer EV
GMC Sierra EV
Honda Prologue
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Hyundai Ioniq 6
Hyundai Kona EV
Jaguar I-PACE
Jeep Wagoneer
Kia EV6
Kia EV9
Kia Niro EV
Lexus RZ
Lucid Air
Mazda MX-30
Mercedes EQS Sedan
Mercedes EQS SUV
Mercedes EQE Sedan
Mercedes EQE SUV
Mercedes EQB
MINI Countryman Electric
Nissan Ariya
Nissan LEAF
Polestar 2
Polestar 3
Polestar 4
Porsche Macan EV
Porsche Taycan
Rivian R1S
Rivian R1T
Subaru Solterra
Tesla Model Y
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Model S
Tesla Model X
Tesla Cybertruck
Toyota BZ4X
Vinfast VF8
Volvo C40
Volvo XC40
Volvo EX30
Volvo EX90
Volkswagen ID.4
Volkswagen ID.Buzz
But if you go to an auto dealer or EV company right now, you can lease any of these electric cars and get the benefit of the $7,500 tax credit applied to your lease — just make sure to talk to the dealer and confirm that with them. A $7,500 commercial tax credit is eligible to every electric car when leased, but it’s provided to the company leasing the car to you — so it’s worthwhile making sure they say the tax credit is being applied to bring down the cost of your lease.
Who knows how soon Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump will go after the tax credit. It’s long been assumed they’d do so immediately, and this was basically implied in one of Donald Trump’s first executive orders. That said, Elon Musk is one of Trump’s closest allies now, and Tesla just gave us the impression in its Q4 2024 shareholder letter that the tax credit is sticking around. Though, that could just be focused on the situation at the moment and wishful thinking.
Things can change fast, so if you are thinking about getting an electric car and concerned about whether or not you can get the tax credit, make a move now and either buy one of the EVs from the first list or lease any of the electric vehicles on the market (second list).
[embedded content]
Chip in a few dollars a month to help support independent cleantech coverage that helps to accelerate the cleantech revolution!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one if daily is too frequent.
Advertisement
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy
Share this story!