In February 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocated hundreds of millions of dollars in green vehicle grants, loans and incentives. One of those incentives provided 50 percent tax credits toward the purchase of electric vehicle charging equipment—capped at $2,000 for individuals and $50,000 for businesses.
Unfortunately, unlike the $7,500 federal incentives that the same stimulus bill offers toward the purchase of a plugin—which phases out for each automaker after its first 200,000 electric vehicles have been sold—the charging infrastructure tax credits have a set cut-off date: December 31, 2010. That means that unless Congress takes action to extend them, the federal vehicle charging incentives could expire before all but a select group of early adopters have had a chance to take advantage of them.
Plug-in America, which worked hand in hand with members of the House and Senate to draft the original bill, is calling on Washington to pass that extension by the end of the year. In a post on its website, the group is asking electric vehicle supporters to write their elected representatives in support of the measure.
The site includes a tool to help you contact those officials with a standard form email (which you can personalize if you like), and Plug-in America does the rest—sending the message to your local congressperson, senators, and President Barack Obama.
Should supporters succeed in passing that bill before the end of the lame duck session, an extension of the current charging incentives could potentially be tacked on and signed into law in time to kick in before they expire on New Years Day.
Progress is good for our country!