Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Surely by now you've heard the EV tax credit expires tonight at midnight after Congress voted to eliminate the $7,500 incentive for new EVs and the $4,000 tax credit for used EVs.
What happens next is anyone's guess, but there are clues.
For example, just last night came word that General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have been working to extend the $7,500 federal incentive into the fourth quarter.
How?
As this report by Lindsay VanHulle points out, the two automakers are using their financing arms to offer the incentive beyond the expiration date by making down payments on the vehicles before finding customers to lease them. The IRS said the credit still can be claimed if a vehicle is "placed in service" after Sept. 30 if the vehicle has been acquired with payment made.
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That's certainly one approach, and it remains to be seen whether other automakers will try the same or a similar strategy.
Either way, as this editorial states, a pullback on EV programs is already happening across the U.S., and that's not necessarily a bad thing: It should give customers more time to become EV believers at their own pace, while allowing time for the technology to mature.
Meanwhile, our editorial says, the automakers should use the time to figure out the true level of EV interest among their U.S. customers, and then figure out a way to meet that need affordably today and down the road.
Speaking of GM and EVs, check out the automaker's latest, the Chinese market Buick L7. The L7 is the first of six new EVs GM is planning for China.
And last but not least, find out why Ferrari and Stellantis Chairman John Elkann faces a legal battle with his mother.
That's it for today. Enjoy the rest of your day.
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— Wes Raynal, assistant web editor
