After upsetting GOP senators, GM scraps its EV tax credit extension plan
Roughly a week after it was first reported, GM’s plan to extend the now-expired $7,500 US federal EV tax credit to customers through a leasing program is no more.
Last week, Republican Senators Bernie Moreno (Ohio) and John Barrasso (Wyoming) wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent urging him to change the IRS rule that they said allowed automakers to game the law that ended the tax credit, “bilking” taxpayers.
Automakers GM and Ford, who each saw juiced-up EV sales ahead of the tax credit's expiration, sought to extend the subsidy by using their financial arms to put down payments on EVs already on their dealers’ lots. Those payments would qualify for the credit prior to its expiration, and the automakers would pass the savings along to lessees for several more months.
GM will now instead fund the incentive through the end of October without claiming the tax credit, Reuters reports.
Ford did not respond to a request for comment on whether it will similarly scrap its plans.
Automakers GM and Ford, who each saw juiced-up EV sales ahead of the tax credit's expiration, sought to extend the subsidy by using their financial arms to put down payments on EVs already on their dealers’ lots. Those payments would qualify for the credit prior to its expiration, and the automakers would pass the savings along to lessees for several more months.
GM will now instead fund the incentive through the end of October without claiming the tax credit, Reuters reports.
Ford did not respond to a request for comment on whether it will similarly scrap its plans.
