Speaking at the Traverse City Management Briefing Seminar, GM's PC Queen Veep of environment, energy and safety policy told the assembled throngs that The General wants federal tax credits for "alternative fuel vehicles." Reporting Beth Lowery's begging bowl presentation, Automotive News' [sub] David Barkholz reveals he wasn't born yesterday. "The incentives would help coax consumers to try new technologies like the Chevrolet Volt plug-in, the hybrid electric car that GM expects to roll out in 2010." O.K., so, selfless concerns about America's energy independence aside, are your elected representatives really going to buy the idea that a plug-in vehicle (with a gas engine, lest we forget) is more important for fuel conservation than a "normal" high mileage vehicle or, God forbid, a "normal" hybrid? Stay tuned– and inflate those tires properly!
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Good catch on the gasoline engine. The Volt may be an alternative fuel vehicle for the first 40 30 25 miles, but any longer than that and it’s a a gasoline powered car. I can’t stand Arizona’s Alternative Fuel license plates that hybrids get to use. A Prius is 100% gasoline powered. It has no other alternative source of energy, it just uses gasoline very efficiently.
This would be fine with me. I see no real harm in such a Government tax break. Any time they don’t cause big damage with a regulation you have to consider that a win with Washington.
Would be fine with me also. The sooner we use less foreign oil the better, I won’t buy one but hopefully many other’s will. Of course I wouldn’t buy a high mileage small car or Prius either so it’s nothing against the Volt.
The only way the federal government should feel obligated to offer tax breaks for this stuff is if they feel they are/were complicit in the foreign oil dependancy conditions that brought us to this point.
Which is why you will see tax credits. It’s also why you are not likely to see any mandates or timelines associated with said credits.