Toyota Runs Out of Maximum US Tax Subsidy for EV Buyers, Joining Tesla and GM
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BUT Toyota President Akio Toyoda Said "Motorist Choice Is The Future, The enemy is carbon, not internal combustion engines" This Has Been The TACH Position For 25 Years!
BUT: Carbon Is Not The Enemy
Toyota sold its 200,000th plug-in electric vehicle in the US, triggering a slow phaseout of the federal EV tax credit over the next 15 months, according to Bloomberg. The automaker is the third manufacturer to pass this mark, following Tesla and General Motors.
The Verge.com reported that the phaseout for Toyota is poorly timed, coming just weeks after the company’s new electric SUV, the bZ4X, went on sale in the US. It’s the latest bad piece of EV news to hit the automaker, coming just a few weeks after it was forced to recall the bZ4X over loose hub bolts that could cause the wheels to come off while driving. Toyota pledged to spend $17.6 billion to roll out 30 battery-electric models by 2030.
The phaseout of the federal tax credits begins two quarters after an auto manufacturer sells 200,000 plug-in vehicles. Customers of Toyota cars that are eligible for the credit (like the bZ4X and the plug-in hybrid Prius Prime) will only be able to receive a maximum of $3,750 starting on October 1st. The maximum available credit will halve again on April 1st to $1,875, and it will completely phase out six months later in October 2023. A Toyota spokesperson confirmed the scheduled phase-out to The Verge.
The auto industry, including Ford, Stellantis, and Toyota, has been pushing Congress to lift the cap on the number of vehicles sold before the tax credit starts to phase out. But Toyota, along with GM and Tesla, opposed a proposal by the Biden administration to provide more generous tax credits to customers of EVs that were made by unionized factory workers. (Democratic lawmakers have said that that proposal is now dead.)
