On Sept. 30, the government incentives to purchase an Electric Vehicle (EV) expired. Since then, those who decide to buy an EV and meet the previous income requirements will no longer receive the $7,500 tax credit or be able to access the High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane.
The EV incentives were part of a California project that would require all cars sold in California to be electric vehicles and stop the sale of gas cars in-state by 2035.
Owner of two Tesla Model X’s and Carlsbad resident Doug Obenshain is in favor of the incentives being cut.
“Every buyer should make a decision as to what car they want to purchase,” Obenshain said. “I don’t think that the other taxpayers should subsidize me buying an electric car and I don’t think I should subsidize anyone else getting an electric car.”
A Carlsbad owner of an Audi Q6 e-tron, Vanessa Tyler, cites economic and environmental reasons as primary reasons that the government should incentivize buyers to pick EV’s.
“I want to encourage the use of EV because I think it’s better for our environment, and I think that it’s good economically to not have foreign dependence on oil,” Tyler said.
In the month leading up to the cutting of the incentives, Honda fell 7.78%.
Some electric vehicle owners also stress that the project that would require all California cars sold to be electric is flawed because of the downsides of electric cars.
“I have a lot of concerns about the potential pollution that we will have long term because of EV batteries running out, going bad and not being able to be used,” Tyler said.
“If you are using the car for local commuting purposes, it’s great. If you’re using it to drive a longer distance, it’s a lot easier to find a gas station than it is to find an EV charger,” Obenshain said. “In addition, it takes a lot longer to fill up at an EV charger than the five minutes that it takes to fill your car up with gas.”
One of the major reasons people choose to drive electric is the environmental impact.
“I want our state to be environmentally clean,” Tyler said. “I want us to be providing a sustainable Earth for my kids and for the next generations.”
Regardless of the next step forward for the government, EV’s will continue to improve and attract more customers naturally. The question becomes if it is worthwhile for the government to step back in and accelerate their growth.
