Friends have been confronting the quandary of what kind of electric car to buy in the US. If you’re interested in buying an electric car (EV) and you want to buy one for as low a cost as possible, there are very few choices. The reason is that not all EVs qualify for the $7,500 federal tax credit, and many of the EVs that do are big expensive trucks.
If you don’t care about the federal subsidy, or you don’t pay enough taxes to use the tax credit, no need to read further.
The IRS requirements for the EV tax credit are mind numbing, but you don’t need to weigh into them yourself. Others have done the hard work for you, including the Federal government. In other words, there is an “official” list of what models qualify. You can just look it up on line and see if your EV is on the list.
Here’s the official site: Federal Tax Credits for Plug-in Electric and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles Purchased in 2023.
You can sort or “filter” by All-Electric EV, Plug-in Hybrids PHEV, or see them all at once. I only recommend full battery-electric EVs, so that’s how I sorted the list.
You can also filter by make and model. But beware. Many of the cars listed are not actually available for sale. For example, if you look at the Chevy list, only the Bolt is currently available in May 2023.
Ford’s list is similar. If you don’t want a high-priced work truck, there’s only the Mach e and it only qualifies for half the tax credit.
Tesla’s recent price cuts have qualified both the Model 3 and the Model Y on certain trim levels.
Volkswagen ID4 has eight trim levels that qualify because the car is made in Tennessee and the battery must be sourced from somewhere in the US or in a country we trade with.
And that’s it.
There will be more in a few years as manufacturers throw up new assembly plants in Canada, the US, and Mexico. Many are currently under construction.
