Concerned About US EV Tax Credit Going Away? Lease Any EV Today! Or Buy One Of These 15.

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At the moment, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that the following fully electric vehicles are eligible for the $7,500 US ZEV tax credit:

• Acura ZDX
• Cadillac LYRIQ
• Cadillac OPTIQ
• Chevrolet Blazer EV
• Chevrolet Equinox EV
• Chevrolet Silverado EV
• Ford F-150 Lightning
• Honda Prologue
• Jeep Wagoneer S
• Kia EV6
• Kia EV9
• Tesla Cybertruck
• Tesla Model 3 Long Range
• Tesla Model 3 Performance
• Tesla Model X AWD
• Tesla Model Y Long Range
• Tesla Model Y Performance

There’s concern that Republicans will soon repeal the ZEV tax credit, as Trump has basically promised to do so, but if you want to make sure you get the EV tax credit, you can buy any of those models today and immediately benefit from the US tax credit. (Note that sometimes only certain versions of those models are eligible for the tax credit.) As the DOE and EPA write:

“In accordance with new IRS regulations, beginning January 1, 2024, Clean Vehicle Tax Credits must be initiated and approved at the time of sale.

“Buyers are advised to obtain a copy of the IRS’s confirmation that a ‘time-of-sale’ report was submitted successfully by the dealer.

“Go to IRS publication 5900 to learn more!”

If you look at this list of electric vehicles on the US market, however, you can see that there are a lot of models that don’t qualify for the EV tax credit:

• Acura ZDX
• Audi e-tron GT
• Audi Q4 e-tron
• Audi Q6 e-tron
• Audi Q8 e-tron
• Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron
• Audi Q8 Sportback e-tron
• BMW i4
• BMW i5
• BMW i7
• BMW iX
• Cadillac LYRIQ
• Chevy Blazer EV
• Chevy Equinox EV
• Chevy Silverado EV
• Fiat 500
• Ford E-Transit
• Ford F-150 Lightning
• Ford Mustang Mach-E
• Genesis G80
• Genesis GV60
• Genesis GV70
• GMC Hummer EV
• GMC Sierra EV
• Honda Prologue
• Hyundai Ioniq 5
• Hyundai Ioniq 6
• Hyundai Kona EV
• Jaguar I-PACE
• Jeep Wagoneer
• Kia EV6
• Kia EV9
• Kia Niro EV
• Lexus RZ
• Lucid Air
• Mazda MX-30
• Mercedes EQS Sedan
• Mercedes EQS SUV
• Mercedes EQE Sedan
• Mercedes EQE SUV
• Mercedes EQB
• MINI Countryman Electric
• Nissan Ariya
• Nissan LEAF
• Polestar 2
• Polestar 3
• Polestar 4
• Porsche Macan EV
• Porsche Taycan
• Rivian R1S
• Rivian R1T
• Subaru Solterra
• Tesla Model Y
• Tesla Model 3
• Tesla Model S
• Tesla Model X
• Tesla Cybertruck
• Toyota BZ4X
• Vinfast VF8
• Volvo C40
• Volvo XC40
• Volvo EX30
• Volvo EX90
• Volkswagen ID.4
• Volkswagen ID.Buzz

But if you go to an auto dealer or EV company right now, you can lease any of these electric cars and get the benefit of the $7,500 tax credit applied to your lease — just make sure to talk to the dealer and confirm that with them. A $7,500 commercial tax credit is eligible to every electric car when leased, but it’s provided to the company leasing the car to you — so it’s worthwhile making sure they say the tax credit is being applied to bring down the cost of your lease.

Who knows how soon Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump will go after the tax credit. It’s long been assumed they’d do so immediately, and this was basically implied in one of Donald Trump’s first executive orders. That said, Elon Musk is one of Trump’s closest allies now, and Tesla just gave us the impression in its Q4 2024 shareholder letter that the tax credit is sticking around. Though, that could just be focused on the situation at the moment and wishful thinking.

Things can change fast, so if you are thinking about getting an electric car and concerned about whether or not you can get the tax credit, make a move now and either buy one of the EVs from the first list or lease any of the electric vehicles on the market (second list).