Good news for electric car lovers: Under new legislation introduced last week, the federal government could bump the electric vehicle tax credit up to $10,000 per vehicle in some cities.
“Bills in the House and Senate are designed to smooth the way for the electric vehicles that are expected to start showing up at their car dealerships in large numbers this fall,” said an Associated Press story last week.
The House version would spend $6.6 billion, dedicating $800 million to the “deployment communities” to speed 700,000 plug-in vehicles into use and establish recharging networks, according to The Detroit News. A Senate version would spend about $10 billion and grant $250 million to up to 15 communities.
The Senate version would also extend the tax credit to 100,000 more vehicles per manufacturer (from 200,000 to 300,000) and would boost the credit in the “deployment communities” to $10,000 apiece, instead of $7,500.
The tax credit could be used on a Nissan Leaf electric car, which is expected to cost $32,780. It could be applied to the purchase of a Chevy Volt, which does not yet have an announced price.
It’s not yet known which cities will be chosen as “deployment communities.”