Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Sparks

In 2024, America’s EV Subsidies Will Be Available Instantly

No more waiting for that $7,500 tax credit to kick in.

Money in a wallet.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Starting next year, Americans will be able to get a big discount on a qualifying electric vehicle right when they buy it at the dealership, the Treasury Department announced today.

It’s one of the final — and most important — tweaks made to the EV tax credits under President Joe Biden’s climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act.

The new program will let people instantly use the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs and the $4,000 credit for used EVs at purchase. In essence, buyers will transfer their tax credit to the dealership at the moment of sale, allowing dealers to give them a direct discount on the price of a vehicle, according to new Treasury Department rules.

Before this, Americans couldn’t get the tax credit until they filed their taxes the following year and received their rebate from the IRS. That meant, among other things, that people couldn’t use the discount before financing the car, effectively increasing their month-to-month payment.

A study published last year — coauthored by researchers from George Washington University and Volkswagen — found that Americans placed vastly more value on an immediate rebate over having to wait til next April. Poorer households and used-car buyers especially valued the instant access to a discount.

The point-of-sale rebate is one of a slew of changes made by the climate law to America’s EV subsidies. In January, the law placed price caps on which cars qualify for the EV tax credits, eliminating subsidies for six-figure luxury vehicles like the Hummer EV. It also opened the $4,000 tax credit for pre-owned EVs.

In April, sweeping new rules that limited the subsidies to North American-made vehicles kicked in. Check out Heatmap’s list of which EVs qualify for the $7,500 tax credit under those new rules.

We’ll have to see how widely automakers and dealerships will choose to participate in the new instant-rebate program. To join the scheme, a dealership or seller will have to register with the IRS ahead of time on a new website. After someone buys an EV, the seller will receive a payment for the credit within 72 hours, according to the agency.

Green

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Sparks

It’s Been a Big 24 Hours for AI Energy Announcements

We’re powering data centers every which way these days.

Google and Exxon logos.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

The energy giant ExxonMobil is planning a huge investment in natural gas-fired power plants that will power data centers directly, a.k.a. behind the meter, meaning they won’t have to connect to the electric grid. That will allow the fossil fuel giant to avoid making the expensive transmission upgrades that tend to slow down the buildout of new electricity generation. And it’ll add carbon capture to boot.

The company said in a corporate update that it plans to build facilities that “would use natural gas to generate a significant amount of high-reliability electricity for a data center,” then use carbon capture to “remove more than 90% of the associated CO2 emissions, then transport the captured CO2 to safe, permanent storage deep underground.” Going behind the meter means that this generation “can be installed at a pace that other alternatives, including U.S. nuclear power, cannot match,” the company said.

The move represents a first for Exxon, which is famous for its far-flung operations to extract and process oil and natural gas but has not historically been in the business of supplying electricity to customers. The company is looking to generate 1.5 gigawatts of power, about 50% more than a large nuclear reactor, The New York Timesreported.

Keep reading...Show less
Blue
Sparks

Trump Promises ‘Fully Expedited’ Permitting in Exchange for $1 Billion of Investment

But ... how?

Donald Trump.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday rocked the energy world when he promised “fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals” for “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America,” in a post on Truth Social Tuesday.

“GET READY TO ROCK!!!” he added.

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Sparks

The Mad Dash to Lock Down Biden’s Final Climate Dollars

Companies are racing to finish the paperwork on their Department of Energy loans.

A clock and money.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Of the over $13 billion in loans and loan guarantees that the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office has made under Biden, nearly a third of that funding has been doled out in the month since the presidential election. And of the $41 billion in conditional commitments — agreements to provide a loan once the borrower satisfies certain preconditions — that proportion rises to nearly half. That includes some of the largest funding announcements in the office’s history: more than $7.5 billion to StarPlus Energy for battery manufacturing, $4.9 billion to Grain Belt Express for a transmission project, and nearly $6.6 billion to the electric vehicle company Rivian to support its new manufacturing facility in Georgia.

The acceleration represents a clear push by the outgoing Biden administration to get money out the door before President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened to hollow out much of the Department of Energy, takes office. Still, there’s a good chance these recent conditional commitments won’t become final before the new administration takes office, as that process involves checking a series of nontrivial boxes that include performing due diligence, addressing or mitigating various project risks, and negotiating financing terms. And if the deals aren’t finalized before Trump takes office, they’re at risk of being paused or cancelled altogether, something the DOE considers unwise, to put it lightly.

Keep reading...Show less
Green