Cash Money Two Ways

CNET ran an article yesterday in Road|Show mentioning a new bill HB1332 passed in Colorado. The bill allows Colorado residents who purchase an electrical vehicle (EV) to receive a $5,000 rebate from the state. Paired with the $7,500 tax credit from the US Government, a Colorado EV buyer gets a $12,500 discount on a new EV. Andrew Krok, the article author, reported that the new bill introduced a new way of getting the discount. Instead of waiting for tax time to get the tax credit, a new buyer could take the discount at the time of purchase. That’s cash money two ways.

If you are reading this thinking, “This is a nice; this is wonderful,” then I have to say, “You are NOT a conservative.”

This money is coming out of our pockets. We are paying people to switch from gasoline to natural gas, natural gas being the likely fuel used to create the electricity for the cars. Given that EVs need big batteries and that those batteries have to be manufactured, replaced, and recycled, there can’t be any net benefit to the environment? We are not very smart.

I have an even better idea. How about we pass a law requiring ethanol instead of natural gas to create the electricity that charges the EVs? That way we can pay out more in subsidies to corn farmers. It would just get better and better. NOT!

Mr. Krok laments that HB1332 does not allow for rebates on used EVs. I have a feeling he is not a conservative.