Electric vehicles are a winning strategy to increase affordability, lower total costs, and make our communities healthier and stronger. Even if you’re not an EV owner or aren’t currently interested in purchasing a new or used EV as your next vehicle, there are many reasons to support American leadership in the industry. 

• Electric vehicles reduce pollution—both air pollution that harms our health and makes us and our kids sick and climate pollutants that are making devastating weather events more common. No tailpipes means zero local air pollutants. Electric vehicles, which are highly energy efficient, mean less carbon and reduced climate pollutants, regardless of how the electricity to power them is sourced. 
• Electric vehicles offer an overall more affordable vehicle option. The lifetime cost of owning a battery electric vehicle is often cheaper than that of an internal combustion vehicle because of lower fuel and maintenance costs, even though the upfront cost is higher. 

Tax credits make it easier and more affordable to purchase an EV, make it safer and more reliable to rely on EVs, and increase easy access to charging.

At a Glance

• Electric transportation reduces pollution and makes our communities healthier.
• Americans deserve the freedom to drive affordable electric cars. Tax credits support that.
• Vehicle tax credits support consumers and businesses purchasing EVs and charging equipment. Charging tax credits expand the infrastructure we need to safely and confidently rely on this clean technology. Manufacturing tax credits are creating opportunities for domestic production and bringing back American jobs. 
• Any action to cancel the tax credits will reduce freedom of choice and accessibility. 

Chart by Meeting Street Insights and Hart Research for Centerline Liberties + CEN + ZETA.

Electric Transportation Reduces Pollution and Makes Our Communities Healthier

Air pollution released by tailpipes from our gas and diesel vehicles is a significant source of the pollution we breathe and directly leads to health risks like heart attacks, stroke, low birth weight, and cancer. Driving electric transit and school buses, cars and trucks, which are pollution-free, help reduce toxic fumes from tailpipes, clean up our air, and improve our quality of life. Additionally, pollution from tailpipes is causing our planet to overheat, contributing to climate change and extreme weather. EVs can clean our air and protect communities from the impacts of climate pollution.

Electric School Buses Are Safer for Our Kids Diesel currently powers more than 90% of school buses in the US, and its exhaust is linked to serious physical health and cognitive development issues for students. On the other hand, electric school buses have no tailpipe at all. Electrifying the full U.S. school bus fleet by 2030 would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 9 million metric tons per year, the equivalent of taking 2 million cars off the roads.

Electric vehicle tax credits and charging station credits are making it less expensive for school districts to purchase electric school buses and install the charging infrastructure to support them. These tax credits are helping to add more pollution-free buses to our roads and clean up the air in the communities they drive through, creating stronger, healthier communities.

Americans Deserve the Right to Choose the Car They Want to Drive

Electric vehicle and charging infrastructure tax credits give Americans the freedom to drive the vehicle they choose. Electric vehicles already have lower total costs, and tax credits decrease manufacturing costs, upfront costs, and charging barriers to purchasing or leasing EVs. Expanded accessibility to electric vehicles and charging stations increases Americans’ choices to drive the vehicle type of their choosing. Americans should be able to afford electric vehicles. 

Vehicle tax credits lower the cost at the point of sale for new and used EVs or make leasing more affordable, expanding choice and accessibility for American consumers. Government and private incentives have already lowered prices, but we need to keep investing to make them cheaper for everyday Americans. Federal tax credits address both of these concerns.

Charging infrastructure tax credits are critical to increasing access to charging and incentivizing private capital to build more stations. The most common barriers to EV purchase are cost and lack of charging stations. Currently, the Southeast lacks access to charging stations compared to the national average, 0.40 vs 0.52 charging stations per 1,000 people. This lack of accessible charging keeps consumers from having the confidence to purchase and drive electric. We created the national highway system to ensure Americans the freedom to travel reliably between various areas of our country. In the same way, charging station tax credits help make charging stations more accessible everywhere, giving Americans the freedom to drive EVs longer distances to different places. 

Commercial EV tax credits (45W) allow increased affordability for businesses and tax-exempt and often cash-strapped entities (like your local government or school district) to lower upfront premiums and transition their fleets to electric. One key feature of the Commercial EV tax credit is a new financing mechanism, called “direct pay”, that enables eligible tax-exempt entities, like governments and non-profit organizations, to access tax credits. These credits often lower the total cost of owning and operating an electric fleet than a gas fleet, thereby reducing the burden on local taxpayers. For example, if a city wants to purchase an electric vehicle, but they don’t have the extra upfront capital compared to the cost of a comparable gas vehicle, this tax credit will help lower that premium, and over the lifetime, the city will benefit – at a value more than that of the tax credit – in lower fuel and maintenance costs. This is a common-sense solution to reducing government transportation spending. Tax credits are a temporary solution, and we will not need them forever: as the upfront costs of EVs come down in coming years, this offset will become unnecessary. But they are critical right now, while the industry is still growing, to sustain momentum.  

Federal Tax Credits Support American Manufacturing and Jobs. The past several decades have seen automotive manufacturing move overseas. By investing in electric vehicle manufacturing, new jobs are created in surprising places. Did you know that Georgia leads the nation in EV and battery jobs? The rapid success of the federal electric vehicle tax credits is a result of two economic levers working together to support this industry growth. One is the supply-side tax credits, and the second is the demand-side electric vehicle tax credits, which work in tandem to bring manufacturing back to American communities and jobs back to American families. 

• Supply-side manufacturing tax credits offer manufacturers incentives to build their factories here and hire American workers. And they’re working. In the past two years, several factories have begun construction, and we’re seeing 12 percent annual job growth in the EV sector in our region. An anticipated 73,000 jobs will support every facet of the EV supply chain: battery manufacturing, vehicle manufacturing, and charging equipment. The Southeast is benefiting in an outsized way. 31 percent of the total national EV manufacturing jobs are concentrated in the Southeast. Did you know that two American manufacturers, Bluebird and Thomas Built, are building electric school buses in Georgia and North Carolina, respectively?
• Demand-side manufacturing tax credits help make it easier for American consumers to say yes to electric vehicles made in the USA. Electric vehicle (EV) sales grew 42% in the Southeast from July 2023 to June 2024, and the price is coming down thanks to advances in battery technology and economies of scale. If more Americans are buying EVs, manufacturers will make EVs in higher numbers, thus creating stability for American workers building the cars in the Southeast. It’s a positive feedback loop that is making American families more prosperous. Let’s keep it going!

The Case for Keeping the EV Tax Credits

Electric vehicles are a winning strategy to increase affordability, lower total costs, and make our communities healthier and stronger. Getting more clean vehicles on the road is a big step toward cleaning up our air and ensuring healthier communities. Electric vehicle and charging infrastructure tax credits give Americans the freedom to drive the vehicle they choose. Electric vehicles already have lower total costs, and tax credits decrease upfront costs and charging barriers to purchasing or leasing EVs. Tax credits also support American manufacturing leadership in the industry. We should support continuing these tax credits. Any action by Congress to cancel the tax credits will reduce freedom of choice and accessibility. 

Resources

UNDERSTANDING EV TAX CREDITS AND HOW TO CLAIM THEM FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY LEADERS 

Find the Right EV and Maximize Your Tax Credits: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR CONSUMERS

Plug in America’s Resources on EV Tax Credits

IRS Website on EV and Charging Station Tax Credits

Clean Vehicle Manufacturing Credit

The post Federal EV Tax Credits Make Our Communities Healthier & Stronger appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Federal EV Tax Credits Make Our Communities Healthier & Stronger