Last year, we upgraded my reliable Scion XB of 15 years to an electric vehicle. It was during a time when my wallet was taking a hit from insanely rising gas prices. The six months since then has made many of us forget the outrage, but there it sits on the wings. I am glad to have made the change, as we have community charging stations in our neighborhood that fills up my batt for free. It also helps that my husband works at an EV car company and can charge for free at work. Of course, he opts to stay at home and not drive at all whenever possible. But most pleasantly, there is an EV tax rebate for purchased new EV vehicles in 2022 by way of $7,500. If you think the gas I saved was chump-change, this may have you considering EV options for 2023.
A word on saving gas money:
I have always been one to temper our budget around gas. I have written about nixing my commute, and choosing to live where you can walk to work, school, or the supermarket. Our first home had a walk score of 98. I walked to the restaurants and coffee shops that I delivered bread to for my bakery, to the dental office I worked at, as well as the post-office, library, courthouse, and super market.
I dislike wasting gas money so much that we moved homes when I switched jobs that included a 30-mile commute. It’s not something regular people do. But with my husband working from home, we traded our first home for one two miles away from work. Of course, we also traded away the supermarket and the post-office. But with this post-pandemic way of life, we opted for a farm, citrus groves, swimming pools, and hiking trails. Don’t be fooled, as we also have a coffee shop and a brewery/winery less than half-a-mile from our front door. Instead of baking bread for restaurants and coffee shops, I started a dog-walking business that has become a reliable side hustle.
Now with an EV, we primarily use the one vehicle and pay $0 for gas. For reference, prior to making the move, we were spending almost $500 a month on gas. That arguably is the equivalent of a car payment.
I do miss my Scion though. It was a reliable fellow, and we had tons of memories from my formative twenties. I ended up selling my Scion to a dental assistant’s in-laws for a great deal. Whenever I wonder if it was a mistake, I think of the savings we made switching to an EV, and the hassle of storing an extra car outdoors where it will surely depreciate in value. I was lucky to have sold it when used vehicles were scarce, and the market for them at an all-time high. When in doubt, decluttering has been a standard I go by, one that has served me well.
How to Get the EV Tax Rebate
So on to the important information about getting this tax rebate. It’s as simple as filling out a form. First, you need to check out the qualifications for receiving credit if you purchased a vehicle in 2022. If you do qualify, head to this page and print out Form 8936. If you wish to consider buying a used EV vehicle in 2023, there is still a chance that you can receive credit. However the qualification requirements are more difficult to achieve and the rebate is less. You can check out information on used clean vehicle credit here.
As I said in the beginning, $7,500 is a huge incentive. We also installed solar panels on the roof of our new home at the beginning of the year which comes with its own 30% incentive (for the next tax year). However, it is nowhere near the price of the EV Tax rebate. The solar panel refund we expect to receive is around $4-5k. Now I understand that not everyone lives in a neighborhood with free EV chargers, or has a family member working for an EV company. In which case, I do highly recommend installing solar panels. I acknowledge that our particular circumstances are optimized for owning an EV, but even if yours are not, there are savings to be had!
