Let’s say you really need a little tax deduction to get your 2009 taxes down, and let’s say you also have spare $50K jingling in your pocket.
Now might be a good time to hop in your jet and pop back to your ski vacation home in Colorado and pick up a surefire winner of a green Christmas stocking stuffer: a nice little 2009 Tesla Roadster that runs on electrons. Gasoline cars are just so 20th century.
Colorado is offering a $42,083 state tax rebate on the 2009 Roadster until December 31st.
Colorado has a unique way of figuring the value of EV tax credits. By subtracting the sale price of a comparable gasoline-powered vehicle from the sale price of an alternative-fueled vehicle, that difference in price ends up being the value of the tax credit. In the case of the Tesla Roadster, Colorado has chosen the Lotus Elise—on which the Roadster is based—as the comparable-gasoline powered vehicle. Given that the Roadster is almost $50K more than the Elise, that adds up to one hefty tax credit.
>>Complete list of Colorado tax credits (PDF)
On top of the state tax credit, there is also the Federal tax credit for $7,500, of course.
But if you don’t live in Colorado, not to worry: Colorado isn’t the only state offering lavish EV incentives. Even Oklahoma is offering an electric vehicle tax break that, with the Federal tax break, brings the cost of a Smart4Two knockoff from China waaaay down… to $865. A bargain. [Ed. Note: But it is from China and, it's looking more and more like China is flexing its newfound economic muscle in a bad way.]
Image: Steve Jurvetson
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About Susan Kraemer
Wow; Nick, that is a very good link to the Mark Lynas story. Very sad.
However, there is one reason for hope: 192 out of 197 world leaders do not question the existence of climate change, and agree we must do something. That is astonishing.
Imagine if we could have had a Senate not filled half full with the fossil-fueled; we could make a decent future for our youngest kids (mine are old enough that they won’t see the worst of it) like yours. Well Merry Christmas, Ed.
Wow; Nick, that is a very good link to the Mark Lynas story. Very sad.
However, there is one reason for hope: 192 out of 197 world leaders do not question the existence of climate change, and agree we must do something. That is astonishing.
Imagine if we could have had a Senate not filled half full with the fossil-fueled; we could make a decent future for our youngest kids (mine are old enough that they won’t see the worst of it) like yours. Well Merry Christmas, Ed.
Yeah, that link at the end of your post about China is certainly a must read article for the 80% of the world economy’s people that are completely dependent on China for material subsistence at this point.
The scary thing is that even if we wanted to make a change and stop getting stuff from China, it is nearly impossible. And with the Walmartification of our society nearly complete, nobody is able to even afford stuff that isn’t made in China anymore.
Uh, so, yeah, Merry Christmas! (He says surrounded by piles of presents on the floor that were inevitably made in China)
I wish I lived in Colorado again… and that I had fifty thousand dollars.
I wish I lived in Colorado again… and that I had fifty thousand dollars.
You don’t have to live in Colorado to share in this great opportunity. As a taxpayer, you get to pay for half and some other guy gets to drive it.
You can thank your activist government for making this dream a reality. Perhaps you can ask the guy who owns the Tesla if you can polish the fenders. He probably won’t let you near it, though.
To paraphrase Pogo: ‘We have met the government and it is us’.
You don’t have to live in Colorado to share in this great opportunity. As a taxpayer, you get to pay for half and some other guy gets to drive it.
You can thank your activist government for making this dream a reality. Perhaps you can ask the guy who owns the Tesla if you can polish the fenders. He probably won’t let you near it, though.
To paraphrase Pogo: ‘We have met the government and it is us’.
Please note that the Smart is NOT a Chinese car. It’s a German car built by Daimler with electric powertrain components by Tesla Motors. You should really correct this significant error of fact.
Please note that the Smart is NOT a Chinese car. It’s a German car built by Daimler with electric powertrain components by Tesla Motors. You should really correct this significant error of fact.
Rex,
Please note that the post says a smart4two Chinese knockoff. Perhaps there is a language barrier or something, but the car referenced in the link is indeed a smart car knockoff made in China. Susan is clearly not saying the smart4two is a Chinese car.
But Jim,
“Activist government” is gonna happen anyway.
Either
1. we get out in front to support radical innovation like electric car development, (like the Japanese govt did with the Prius) and create a new industry, help our economy
2. or we have to clean up the mess afterwards (as we had to do with Detroit companies like GM and Chrysler)because they get so far behind the curve they take out half the economy with them.
But Jim,
“Activist government” is gonna happen anyway.
Either
1. we get out in front to support radical innovation like electric car development, (like the Japanese govt did with the Prius) and create a new industry, help our economy
2. or we have to clean up the mess afterwards (as we had to do with Detroit companies like GM and Chrysler)because they get so far behind the curve they take out half the economy with them.
Susan,
Surely, you are not defending this terrible use of taxpayers dollars. $42K tax credit for a sports car? I just don’t see the social benefit. More like a ham handed give-away of someone else’s money.
Japan has a debt/GDP that is second only to Zimbabwe and their govt is still digging the hole deeper. If they don’t reverse direction, they will not arrest their decline from 1st world status. Not an example of good govt.
Quite frankly, the private sector is much more agile and will create new technologies much more quickly as the true market needs are uncovered.
Folks, we have to conserve our financial integrity as well as our environmental integrity. Both are important. People indenture much of their lives for the money that they earn. We must reject the notion that the govt will make smarter financial decisions than we do. This story is a case in point.
Susan,
Surely, you are not defending this terrible use of taxpayers dollars. $42K tax credit for a sports car? I just don’t see the social benefit. More like a ham handed give-away of someone else’s money.
Japan has a debt/GDP that is second only to Zimbabwe and their govt is still digging the hole deeper. If they don’t reverse direction, they will not arrest their decline from 1st world status. Not an example of good govt.
Quite frankly, the private sector is much more agile and will create new technologies much more quickly as the true market needs are uncovered.
Folks, we have to conserve our financial integrity as well as our environmental integrity. Both are important. People indenture much of their lives for the money that they earn. We must reject the notion that the govt will make smarter financial decisions than we do. This story is a case in point.