Did you happen to see the Wonkblog item about the weirdest parts of the fiscal deal? Number 6 is about tax breaks for electric vehicles, which is something I'd heard Rep. Darrell Issa complaining about in his explanation for why he opposed the deal. In fact, what he called it was "the electric motor scooter low-speed loophole."
I'm sure Mr. Issa meant for that to sound alarming, but I was pleased to be informed of this news. There's a dealership near me that sells both A2B bikes and Zero motorcycles, both of which are a little more expensive than their coolness compels me to splurge for, so I went digging to find out just how much this huge tax giveaway is worth.
The law, which, by the way, is called The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (pdf), says you get a tax break of 10% (only up to $2500) of the cost of a qualified 2- or 3-wheeled electric vehicle. Unfortunately, the qualifications specified include the capability of 45 m.p.h. or faster (this is the "low-speed loophole"?), so that rules out the A2B for this particular break. Even the top-of-the-line Zero motorcycle is in the $14,000 range, so you'd get the full 10% under the $2500 cap there.
Y'know, what bike won't keep you under the cap? The zecOO.
If you'll forgive a brief digression, remember that sound-in-a-bottle post? One of the other award winning entries in that contest was a really cool looking hubless e-bike (pictured at top). The online translators are pretty useless in this case and it seems like the point of the design is that the frame can adjust to suit the ergonomics of the rider. Still, the image looks like a photo, not a computer rendering, which means someone built it, so I burned a little time searching on the designer's name and other clues to see if I could find any info about its production.
No luck there, but I did run into Znug Design's zecOO electric motorcycle, darling of the 2012 Tokyo Motorcycle Show. Top speed of 75 mph for a range of 55 to 85 miles, 540 pounds, 4-6 hours to charge the battery, for the expected price of $70,000 once small scale production starts (if it hasn't already). There's video of it in use here. It only looks loud.
One bit of comfort I can offer to folks who are upset with fat cat electronic vehicle customers and their budget-busting scooter loophole is that the tax burden is likely to be made up over time at the state level anyway. The Oregon legislature, for example, is making headlines for its consideration of a per-mile road usage tax on vehicles that get better than 55 mpg.
That sounds like some kind of oil industry sponsored disincentive to go electric, but it's really about recovering lost revenue from the shrinking gas tax yield to pay for road maintenance. If you're not paying a gas tax and you're still using the road, the argument goes, you should still contribute to their upkeep. And since the highways of the future are only a few months away, it's not just upkeep but upgrades that will need paying for.
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Thanks for this, and the continuous feed of excellent research and boradcasting. It takes a lot to absorb all you folks say, which makes me think about the effort to come up with all this info by news cast time. That said, Rep. Darrell Issa likes to whine about stuff and just seems to want to ruffle feathers. I sure wish hed concentrate on getting something done. He is getting paid for that isnt he? I love these bikes and can see this is a doorway to a much bigger thing to come.
I think a road use tax is dumb.. sort of. So is regular registration based on sales amount. Card and trucks beat up the road by their weight, and i guess their milage (they dont do much damage if sitting still. Registration taxes should be regulated by their weight, and maybe with a milage factor thrown in. so each year you get your car weiged and record teh milage, then pay up. Eventually I would assume your car can email that information in and deduct it from your bank account automatically.
Thanks for being so cool.
Most excellent suggestion!
Everything is getting "smart" today, from your electric meter to your phone, car, and credit card.
Paygo is not just for Congress anymore.
Everything is getting smart ...
Bugs Bunny
"He don't know me very well"
carry on
My first reaction was "if Darrell Issa is against it, I'm for it!" Childish, I know, but I hate the bastard.
Jane, I am with you, but not because of childishness, it's because if Issa is against it, it must be good for the vast majority of America.
Why am I not surprised Oregon wants to penalize success? On the other hand considering that Govt makes much, much, more profit on a gallon of gas than the oil companies, it's to be expected.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443687504577563383982418536.html
Oooh, goody! An opinion piece at the Murdoch Street Journal. Outstanding source!
I think we need more than electric vehicles to fix our problems with global climate change.
When Caesar first arrived in North Africa, it was covered in rich forests. Today, it's largely a desert.
We shouldn't be focusing just on preventing global warming and sustainable energy. We should focus on restoration. Large parts of Africa doesn't have to be a desert. We can turn it back into a rich forest if we put the effort and investment into it. As a side benefit, this could have the potential to virtually eliminate all hurricanes from every developing in the Atlantic, meaning that the USA would never again have to suffer a disaster like Katrina.
How is this be possible? Watch this! Pay close attention to what would be possible with the sea water greenhouse.
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pawlyn_using_nature_s_genius_in_architecture.html
Most excellent Ted Talk!
-But first, we have to get rid of the Republicans in congress!
No gripe about per-mile taxes on vehicles (esp.if they're also rated by weight) except it's counterproductive to have them only kick in at an efficiency threshold. Apply it to all vehicles and maybe reduce the gasoline tax. Otherwise you can bet that there will be a whole bunch of 54 mpg vehicles on the road.
Without the capability to top out over 45mph such a thing would be useless outside Manhattan. Range is really going to be hurt if you have to have the throttle(potentiometer, really, no air to choke off) pinned just to keep up with traffic on roads like the one just outside my housing tract that has a 40mph speed limit that everybody including my timid-driver mother drives at 45-50mph. And just imagine trying to use such a wimpy thing in the hills of San Francisco.
That road use tax better be a congestion tax as roadway wear and tear is proportional to the fourth power of the axle load of the vehicles that use it*. We already subsidize delivery vehicles like semi trucks and restrict the roads they are allowed to use because of the benefit we derive from having goods delivered efficiently to the marketplace.
*I worked for a traffic engineer at one time in the past
...built a design for a bike, not necessarily an actual bike.
OMG !!! Next they'll want to raise the "sidewalk tax", from a few cents on shoe sales, to registration for wheelchairs and scooters- to get the serious bucks....!!!
Now... about these lousy sidewalks....and non-existent curb ramps....
Heck, I'd pay a few bucks a year to ride my mobility scooter on the sidewalks, but I'd sure expect some better sidewalks... {but I won't hold my breath}