The EV tax credit is about to get better, and also harder to find
December 26, 2023
Tesla’s cheapest cars helped it notch another record year
January 6, 2024
The U.S. government has revealed the list of electric vehicles that qualify for the full federal tax credit under the newer, more stringent guidelines, and you can count them on one hand. General Motors’ outgoing Chevy Bolt, plus certain variants of the Ford F-150 Lightning and Tesla’s Model 3, Model Y and Model X are now the only EVs that are eligible for the $7,500 rebate.
Beyond that, certain variants of Rivian’s R1S and R1T, plus a handful of plug-in hybrids, qualify for $3,750. Chrysler’s Pacifica plug-in hybrid was able to stay eligible for the full credit. Otherwise, that’s all.
Until this list was published Monday, the new requirements had many people scratching their heads about what, exactly, would qualify. Even Tesla admitted in its own way that it wasn’t exactly sure.
The reason the list is so anemic is because lawmakers are trying to force the EV supply chain to shift — or at least diversify away — from China to North America in the long run. In the short term, that means automakers who rely heavily on Chinese suppliers, specifically for battery materials and components, are losing eligibility. This is on top of a few other baked-in restrictions, like the fact that the vehicles must be built in North America, and must retail for less than either $55,000 or $80,000, depending on vehicle type.
While it will be harder to find a vehicle that qualifies for the federal EV tax credit, the credit itself is much better for consumers in two key ways. First, the credit is now applied when buying the car, meaning you won’t have to wait to claim it on your tax returns.
Second, buyers no longer have to have a tax liability equal to or greater than the amount of the credit — a rule that previously kept a lot of buyers from accessing the credit in the first place. (That said, buyers still have to have certain adjusted gross income to qualify. Here’s a list of FAQs from the IRS.)
Some automakers, like GM, have said they are working on replacing components that are disqualifying their EVs from the credit, so the list could grow as the year goes on. A slew of automakers and suppliers are rushing to build new factories in North America in order to ease the burden in the years to come. But until that happens, here’s the full list of what’s eligible:
Full $7,500 tax credit
- Chevrolet Bolt EV
- Chevrolet Bolt EUV
- Chrysler Pacifica PHEV
- Ford F-150 Lightning Extended Range
- Ford F-150 Lightning Standard Range
- Tesla Model 3 Performance
- Tesla Model Y All-Wheel Drive
- Tesla Model Y Performance
- Tesla Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive
- Tesla Model X Long Range
$3,750 tax credit
- Ford Escape PHEV
- Jeep Grand Cherokee PHEV 4xe
- Jeep Wrangler PHEV 4xe
- Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring PHEV
- Rivian R1S Dual-Motor Large Pack
- Rivian R1S Quad-Motor Large Pack
- Rivian R1T Dual-Motor Large Pack
- Rivian R1T Dual-Motor Max Pack
- Rivian R1T Quad-Motor Large Pack
