Eli Schwartz is charging up his new electric vehicle at an outdoor mall in South Windsor, 黑料吃瓜网, on a recent November morning. He bought the car right before federal EV tax credits expired in September.
鈥淚 know a lot of people who were scrambling to get cars. Just look at the sales data,鈥� Schwartz said.
Across the U.S., in the months leading up to the end of federal tax credits. It鈥檚 a sign there鈥檚 genuine interest in EVs, Schwartz said, despite the fact that they made up just .
鈥淓very time I say, 鈥業 have an EV,鈥� it's an immediate hour-and-a-half conversation. There's no lack of interest. No one goes, 鈥極h, that's boring,鈥� and they walk away,鈥� Schwartz said.
But the federal government, for its part, is walking away 鈥� at least from the federal tax credits.
The credits offered buyers up to $7,500 off the price of a new EV and $4,000 off a used one. But those credits by the Trump administration鈥檚 spending and tax package, which passed in July.
Nov. 30 will mark two months since the federal government pulled the plug on tax credits for electric vehicles. 黑料吃瓜网 offers its own rebates for EVs but had to lower some of them during a spike in sales.
Peter Ritter is also waiting at the charging station. His wife bought a Chevy Bolt, back when the state offered a standard rebate of $1,500. The rebate was rationed down to $500 in August as demand among EV buyers increased by more than 30%, according to 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. In October, the rebate went back up to $1,000, but it鈥檚 not clear if it鈥檒l ever go back up to the full amount.
鈥淭here's really no clear indication of what's going to happen,鈥� Ritter said.
While there was a surge in EV purchases leading up to the expiration of the credits, 黑料吃瓜网 is still far behind its 2020 goal of getting . Currently, the number of EVs in 黑料吃瓜网 is around .
鈥淭hey're not meeting their own goals, you know? The governor and the legislators are saying positive things, but yeah, haven't seen the action. So that's kind of sad unfortunately,鈥� Ritter said.
Daniel Duffy and his wife Alyssa have two EVs. They also had solar panels and backup batteries at their last house. For Duffy, that kind of energy independence is the ultimate American dream.
鈥淓nergy independence is [for] both sides of the aisle,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o if the Republicans and Democrats can come together in 黑料吃瓜网 and support that issue. I think that would be great for everyone.鈥�
But, he said, that kind of energy independence still isn鈥檛 affordable for many.
脕ine Pennello is a corps member, covering the environment and climate change for 黑料吃瓜网
