and she said.. "how you interpret the dream is probably more important than the dream itself"

Michael considered fate at 18:43 | Permalink | Post a Comment

Comment posted by

J-Mo @ 4/06/2006 7:06 PM:

Even with the tax credit it takes years of driving to break even on savings at the pump, to the gas model of the same car

Comment posted by

Michael @ 4/06/2006 7:13 PM:

Sure, but the more incentive to buy hybrids, the more hybrids will be bought, and the cheaper they will become. By that time, gas will be a gazillion dollars a gallon and hey - look - back to the same cost of getting from point a to point b, only in a craptastically-performing hybrid!

Them monkeys in D.C. like to call that "progress".

The IRS, in it's usual way of making things simple and concise, have announced how the 2006 Hybrid vehicle tax credits are going to work (hint: it's gonna be confusing).

The simple stuff:

Vehicle must be Purchase and get delivered on or after Jan. 1, 2006.

Must be a new vehicle

Purchase the vehicle with the intention of using it, not re-selling it.

The more confusing bit is that this is all based on the number of hybrids a given automaker has sold. When a company sells it's 60,000th hybrid the tax credits for consumers phases out over the next 1.25 years. The details:

Beginning January 1, 2006 and up through the quarter that the automaker sells 60,000 hybrid vehicles, 100% of the credit is allowed.

100% of the hybrid car tax credit continues for the next consecutive quarter.

The next two quarters after that, the tax credit is reduced to 50% of the original hybrid car tax credit.

Then, for the next two quarters after that, the tax credit is reduced to 25% of the original hybrid car tax credit.

Finally, the hybrid car tax credit for that automakers’ hybrids drops to zero.

Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? But hey.. at least there is a tax credit at all. Follow the link for a table of which vehicles will give you the most bang-for-the-buck, so to speak. On top is, of course, the Toyota Prius at a whooping estimated tax credit of $3,150 (almost 15% of it's MSRP).