Tesla has sent a warning to customers about the end of the federal tax credit for their cars. They say that they have to order now if they want to take delivery by the end of the year and benefit from the tax credit.
The US federal government has a long-standing tax credit program for electric vehicle buyers to get up to $7,500 back when buying an EV.
Under the current structure, an automaker triggers a phase-out period after delivering its 200,000th electric vehicle in the US — resulting in the $7,500 tax credit being gradually reduced to nothing over a little over a year.
Tesla was the first automaker to hit the 200,000th electric car delivery threshold in the US last year.
Over the last 17 months, Tesla buyers have gradually seen the tax credit amount getting reduced. Since the last quarter, Tesla buyers only get $1,875.
Now the automaker has sent an email to owners and potential buyers in the US to tell them that it’s their last chance to order to get the credit:
In less than 5 weeks, the federal tax credit will be expiring and purchases of a new Model S, Model X, or Model 3 will no longer be eligible for this incentive. Order online in less than three minutes and experience the ease, convenience, and safety of an all-electric design.
Tesla says that it will not be able to guarantee delivery by December 31 for orders placed toward the end of the year:
Place your order and take delivery by December 31, 2019 to be eligible for the federal tax credit. Orders placed near the end of the year are not guaranteed to be delivered by December 31.
If that’s not enough to convince people to place an order, the automaker also says that “any purchase of a Model S or Model X will also come with free Supercharging,” which is an incentive that Tesla has been offering on and off.
Electrek’s Take
As we have often stated, it’s not quite fair. Tesla and Tesla buyers are being punished for being early in electrification, and now Tesla’s competitors will have an advantage for being late to market.
There have been new proposed reforms to the EV tax credit to correct the situation over the last year, but it would be surprising if anything happens until the next elections.
In the meantime, it looks like the end of an era for Tesla. The program has been really helpful to the company and it will be interesting to see how it affects sales in the US going forward.
What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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