GM Sells 200,000 EVs in Latest Chapter of Restructuring Saga

So Tesla wasn’t the only company to hit the EV tax credit threshold – GM reached the 200 K figure in the 4^th quarter of 2018.

Under 2009 federal legislation, automakers who sell 200,000 EVs trigger a 15-month tax credit phase-out – the rebate for Teslas drops from $7,500 to $3,750 in January, while GM has until April for the initial reduction.

57,066 people took advantage of the program in 2016, totaling $375 million in EV tax credits, and despite the phase-out, Congress claims taxpayers are on the hook for an additional $7.5 billion from 2018-2022.

And speaking of taxpayer dollars, GM famously took billions of them -- $49.5 to be exact – and after selling their 60% stake in the country’s largest automaker, the Treasury Department recovered $39 billion, for a net loss of $10.5 billion.

The Center for Automotive Research claims the GM bailout saved 1.2 million jobs and preserved $34.9 billion in tax revenue, though numerous sources dispute that.

“If there had been no bailout, Ford, Toyota, and Honda would have picked up even more market share.  Since they had U.S. plants, they would have increased jobs for Americans once the recession was over,” notes Kimberly Amadeo at The Balance.

As part of their Chapter 11 restructuring, GM promised to double resources towards developing electric and self-driving vehicles, and that brings us full-circle. Back in October, GM lobbied President Trump to back nationwide fuel economy standards, though a month later, they announced plans to kill the Chevy Volt to focus on zero-emission vehicles.

Not coincidentally, both Tesla and GM have lobbied the government to extend the EV tax credit program. So the effort is clearly there, and GM is expending great capital to create a modern automaker that responds to market demands – or at least the demands of their former majority stakeholder. But the results are indeterminate – probably as divisive as the last presidential election.

Read more here: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gm-electric/gm-hit-200000-u-s-electric-vehicles-sold-in-2018-source-idUSKCN1OW1BO