Tesla cars just got more expensive, but other EVs still have a full tax credit

To anyone dreaming of buying a Tesla electric vehicle: Your timing is terrible.

Today is July 1, and for Tesla, that means $1,875 less of a federal tax credit is available for buying an electric vehicle. The federal credit started at $7,500, but then once Tesla hit 200,000 electric vehicles sold (since 2010) it started to shrink. 

Tesla pricing is already confusing, but the tax incentive is pretty straightforward. Tesla hit the threshold last year and it was halved to $3,750 in the beginning of 2019. Six months later, it’s half of that with $1,875 in subsidies. Other tax incentives at the state and local levels follow a different schedule, as Tesla lays out on its website. 

Last month Tesla CEO Elon Musk tried to remind would-be EV buyers to do so before Sunday to get the $3,750 tax credit. Also, Musk would like his car company to bounce back from lower production numbers and dropping stock prices earlier this year. OK, he’s possibly also looking out for customers to get the best deal. 

But for other carmakers, the tax credit is still fully available or not as close to depletion as Tesla. The credit for Tesla disappears fully in 2020.

General Motors with its all-electric Bolt hit the 200,000th sale six months after Tesla. The full $7,500 credit was halved earlier this year to $3,750 — and it’s still available at that level. But like Tesla, it will continue to shrink for a year until the deal is no more.

Jaguar, Audi, Volvo, Volkswagen are some of the other carmakers nearing the 200,000-car mark, so now’s the time to consider those electric vehicles with $7,500 in possible tax credits before it’s too late to get the full incentive to go electric.