Tesla CEO Elon Musk is crying foul after the IRS left the most well-liked EV in America off the preliminary checklist of autos qualifying for the brand new EV tax credit score. And Tesla followers are urging the automaker to make inventive product modifications to get the bottom model of the Model Y again on the checklist.
“Messed up!” Musk wrote on Twitter Tuesday in response to a submit by a Tesla fan complaining about preliminary IRS steerage.
The Tesla fan identified {that a} Jeep Wrangler 4xe — a plug-in hybrid with simply 21 miles of electrical vary — qualifies as an SUV for the tax credit score, whereas the five-seat Model Y with 330 miles of electrical vary doesn’t.
The IRS doc — titled “Manufacturers and Models for New Qualified Clean Vehicles Purchased in 2023 or After” — stipulates the autos that qualify for credit as SUVs and pickups with a value cap of $80,000, and the autos that qualify as passenger vehicles with a decrease $55,000 value cap.
The base Model Y within the U.S., which comes with two rows and seating for 5, has a beginning value of $65,990 earlier than delivery prices. Since the automobile exceeds the $55,000 value cap, the entry model is just not eligible for the EV tax credit score of as much as $7,500.
The tax credit score is a part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed into regulation in August. New provisions for EV incentives took impact on Jan. 1, together with value caps based mostly on automobile kind and revenue caps for patrons.
In a curious twist, the Model Y’s much less standard three-row model qualifies as an SUV underneath the brand new IRS tips and subsequently is eligible for the tax credit score with a value cap of $80,000. The seven-seat Model Y, with a tiny third row, begins at $68,990 earlier than delivery. But the Model Y Performance, with solely two rows and a $69,990 sticker, doesn’t qualify for the EV credit score.
It’s unclear precisely which algorithm the IRS is utilizing to outline SUVs, in line with analysts. The EPA defines the Model Y as a “small SUV” for all variations, whereas a separate set of presidency guidelines defines SUVs by gross automobile weight, off-road functionality or the presence of a 3rd row of seating.
“Our federal government kind of screwed up on this one,” mentioned Loren McDonald, CEO of the evaluation and consulting agency EVAdoption. “Nothing on this is clear yet. And if this is final, it’s not at all aligned with the EPA definitions.”
Source: www.autonews.com