The automaker hit the figure in the fourth quarter of 2018, which means the credit will fall to $3,750 in April. The tax credit will then drop to $1,875 in October for six months. The credit will completely disappear by April 2020.
The 200,000 EVs sold is a cumulative number dating back to 2010, according to CNBC. The tax credit is aimed at defraying the cost of electric vehicles that are more expensive than similar-sized vehicles with internal combustion engines. Congress set the phase-out for the tax credit in 2009.
General Motors and Tesla lobbied Congress in October 2018 to lift the cap on electric vehicles eligible for a $7,500 tax credit according to federal disclosure reports and interviews with lawmakers. And a change in the current law would be of great benefit to the two automakers.
The phasing-out of the tax credit for General Motors comes after the company’s announcement in November that it was cutting 15 percent of its workforce, closing four plants in the U.S. and one in Canada – to save $6 billion and adapt to “changing market conditions.”
Those layoffs drew the ire of President Trump, reports The Hill, who said last month that the company is “not going to be treated well” following the layoffs.
“To tell me a couple of weeks before Christmas that she’s going to close in Ohio and Michigan, not acceptable to me,” Trump said in a Fox News interview at the time, referring to GM CEO Mary Barra.
Digital Trends is saying Nissan may be the third EV automaker to hit the 200,000 sales mark. The Japanese automaker has sold about 130,000 Leaf electric cars in the U.S. Ford Motors could be fourth in line, although they have sold more plug-in hybrids – however, these also count toward total EV sales.
