Electric Vehicle Converters Petitioning White House for Tax Incentives

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Organizations and electric vehicle converters are petitioning the White House for tax incentives to financially aid the conversion of fossil-fueled propulsion systems to electric systems. It is called the “Equal Incentives for Conversion” petition.

Washington Capital.

According to the petition on the White House website:

“While the Federal government should continue providing Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicles (IRC 30D) tax incentives for new plug-in vehicles, they should extend the same incentives to EV / plug-in conversions. Conversions target 250M existing vehicles on the roads, can save over 40% of fuel use or no fuel at all, have a smaller carbon footprint than new car since they reuse most of the original vehicle, and cost less to buy as an incremental expense making plug-in more affordable.”

Jon Lesage from Autoblog Green asked: “Why is it that you can get a $7,500 federal tax credit on your electric vehicle manufactured by a major automaker, but not on your converted EV or plug-in hybrid?”
 


 
Electric vehicle conversion is the only option for people that want electric versions of specific cars. Right now, if you want an electric car from a mainstream manufacturer, it has to be a new Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, or Ford Focus, and new cars are always very expensive. Three choices simply doesn’t cut it.

What if you want a Volvo, Acura, or a Dodge? Electric vehicle conversion can be fun, of course, but it also enables you to have an electric version of any model that you want. If you DIY, you can save money by avoiding labour costs.

Most people can’t do this themselves, but they can have organizations do it for them.

Electric vehicle converters may have the potential to really help get the electric vehicle industry off the ground if they receive substantial tax incentives.

Most people buy the vehicles that they personally want to. Aesthetics and brand play a truly tremendous role in vehicle purchase decisions, so there will have to be a large variety of vehicles to choose from, which is why this is so important.

25,000 signatures are needed for this petition to be considered by the White House, and, so far, it is far from that goal.

If you support it, go ahead and sign it!

Source: Autoblog Green

Nicholas Brown (369 Posts)

I have a keen interest in physics-intensive topics such as electricity generation, refrigeration and air conditioning technology, energy storage, geography, and much more. My website is: Kompulsa.


  • http://www.facebook.com/Bowgeeda Bryan Martin

    Where can I sign this petition?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Stan-Stein/1756064509 Stan Stein

    Paradigm….we know it as thinking IN the box.
    Say I convert my existing HVAC, to a geothermal heat pump.
    To accomplish this conversion, I have to do 2 main things.
    1. Replace my condensing unit and furnace with a heat pump
    2. Excavate a subsurface system of tunnels to accomodate thermal absorbsion elements, which enable the elements to extract the needed BTUs from the greater mass of a solid, in this case, soil, than that of the atmosphere, which is also WARMER than the atmosphere, thus providing a greater and more efficient thermal conversion from the ambience.
    Number one, equates to the electric motor of the EV system, as it USES the energy, and number 2 equates to the energy source, which in a car, would be the battery, as it PROVIDES the energy.
    The government provides tax credits for buying a geothermal system.
    So, this is an issue which is scientifically based. In the attempt to discuss this on a political plane, the science behind the issue becomes silent, and cannot be dealt with in a pure intellectual sense.
    To attempt to leave existing principles out of the equasion is tantamount to reinventing the wheel.

  • http://twitter.com/krakenaut predrag raos

    Tax incentives are really not for buying a car but to help cover initial R&D. First customers buy a risky, experimental, tentative, imperfect and expensive product for the benefit of the next generation of buyers, so it’s only fair for them to be reimbursed. Conversion is OK, but you do it only for your own personal gain.

    • Bob_Wallace

      I agree with this statement of yours. New technology development is very expensive and quite often (almost always) governments step forward to help with the birth of major new developments. It’s very hard to identify a single major technology which does not owe its existence to government assistance before it became adequately profitable for market forces to take over and do the remaining work.

    • cl

      Not really. Most of the cost of conversion is for battery technology, just as with a nissan leaf or chevy volt. Conversions will pave the way to cheaper batteries in the same way that buying a commercial EV does. The difference is just that the auto makers have enough clout to get a kick back.

  • mk1313

    A converted plug in vehicle is a new PEV. Makes sense to reward the more environmentally friendly reuse and upgrade.