While it seems that most commodities keep rising in price, a few things are quite hard to live without. Food, shelter, and water are the obvious ones but one essential part of everyday life is transportation. The new and used automobile industry has only been getting more expensive, but the government is trying to ease that pain while also aiming to create a cleaner Earth.
Since 2008 the federal government has been incentivizing the use of electric vehicles by providing tax breaks for those who opt out of using a fossil fuel counterpart. These tax breaks have been increased over the years but only if the vehicle meets certain requirements. One of them is battery capacity, where the longer your battery lasts the more money you are eligible to receive. Vehicles must be made in North America as well as meet certain mineral requirements relating to the composition of the battery. A full amount of a $7,500 tax credit can be received if the vehicle meets the specified requirements; however, if an individual's income is over $150,000 they will not be eligible for the break. A full list of requirements is on the IRS website found here.
One EV that is affording this tax break to its owners is the Toyota bz4x, a midsized electric SUV. This certain model is only available for the $7,500 tax break when it is leased. On average, the customers who leased the car were paying $445 a month while those who outright bought the car ended up paying around $717 a month for the same car. The EV market as a whole saw a massive spike from 2023 to 2024 in the number of leases from 24.97% to 44.97%. Even with inflation on the rise, it is still possible to find ways to save money, and buying an electric vehicle could be one of the best to do so, just so long as your vehicle qualifies for the incentive.
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