Surprise!
"For more than 15 years, Georgia offered one of the country’s most generous tax credits for people who bought electric cars.
But the $5,000 subsidy went away three months ago, and a look by Watchdog.org at how the tax credit’s expiration has affected sales shows a dramatic drop in the number of all-electric cars such as Teslas and Nissan Leafs purchased in the Peach State.
“That’s the assumption we’ve been making,” said Don Francis, coordinator of Clean Cities-Georgia Coalition, who was opposed to getting rid of the subsidy.
“I thought the credit turned from an incentive into a virtual entitlement,” said state Rep. Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, who spearheaded the drive in the state Legislature to sunset the tax credit.
The subsidy expired July 1, and Francis shared motor vehicle data with Watchdog.org obtained from automotive information company R.L. Polk & Co. to see how sales were affected.
According to Georgia car registrations, sales shot up as electric car buyers rushed to take advantage of the tax credit before it expired. But the numbers declined sharply in July and took a swan dive in August—the most recent month tabulated:
