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Staggering buying an EV and EV charger (startrek.website)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Something to consider:

Everyone knows about the US tax incentives for buying an EV, but less considered is the incentives for buying an EV charger.

The incentives come in the form of a tax credit, up to the maximum of $7,500/$4,000 or how much you owe in taxes (pre withholdings and the like) whichever is lower. The charger credit is up to $1,000.

So, if your taxes are, say, $3,000, then it doesn’t matter if you bought a new or used EV, you’re only getting $3,000 off your taxes, and your charger credit is effectively worthless.

Consider, if practical, buying your EV towards the end of the tax year, and your charger at the beginning of the next one. You’ll minimize the inconvenience of being locked to level 1 charging speeds, while maximizing your tax credits.

Obviously, if you need a level 2 charger you shouldn’t self sabotage and should just buy one. But if you’re counting your pennies, and think you can get by with level 1 for that window, then it’s something to keep in mind.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I want to preface by saying I absolutely agree with everything you've said. My personal commute is like ~20 miles round trip, which is more than capable of being covered by a level 1 charger. But I wasn't aware of that 5-20 bit of trivia. I'm going to have to look into that for myself. (Thanks!)

Though, there are two things I'd like to add: Under the normal commute situation, there are scenarios I can think of where a level 2 charger might still be a good investment.

If your battery capacity is good, in practice, you would hardly notice when you have a day or two of heavy driving. Sure it may take an extra day or so to reach full or so, but it won't impact your ability to get things done when things soon revert to normal.

On the other hand, if your battery is something that probably belongs more in a hybrid than it does in an EV, then said car will probably be less forgiving of back-to-back heavy usage. (I was originally looking at a Nisan Leaf since there were good deals for them used, but then I saw that the non-"+" trims had garbage capacity. And then I understood why they were so common as used.)

The other scenario is your power company. They may provide incentives for restricting your charging to certain hours by using an approved Level 2 charger, which when combined with the federal incentive, drastically cuts down the time it takes to break even and then come out ahead.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Ya that's a really good point about the time of day charging incentives. That can add up a lot quicker if you have access to it. When you're on level 1 you don't have the luxury of choosing when to charge unless it's a really short commute.