This month, my family took the next step in our journey to "electrify everything": we bought an electric vehicle! Please say hello to our new blue Hyundai Ioniq 5 (name pending, suggestions welcome).
Technically, we're leasing this vehicle for three years with the intent to buy it after that. The dealership offered additional rebates for leasing in addition to the federal tax credit ($7,500) that expires on September 30. The premature expiration date of this federal incentive was really what pushed us to make the switch to an EV this calendar year (and apparently we're not alone). If you're even remotely interested in taking advantage of these funds before time runs out, here are your next steps:
- Understand the tax credits. who is eligible for this tax credit and the make and models of vehicles that are included through the IRS website. You only need to be under contract for an electric vehicle by September 30; you do not need to have the vehicle in hand.
- Take a few test drives. If you haven’t driven an EV before, you might be pleasantly surprised by the quiet and smooth nature of the ride. We drove the Ford Mustang Mach-E and the Ioniq 5 before making our decision. As a former gas-powered Mustang owner, I was tempted by the Mach-E, but ultimately, the spaciousness of the Ioniq 5 and the combination of digital display and manual buttons won us over.
Have a plan for charging. Before we acquired our EV, we worked with an electrician to install a Level
2 ChargePoint charging station on the outside of our house next to the driveway. The electrician confirmed we had sufficient space on our electrical panel (especially since we plan to charge the car during off-peak hours at night) and found an easy way to snake the wire from one side of the house to the other.- Know your range. Our Ioniq 5 has a range of up to 318 miles per charge. That is plenty of range for 99% of the trips that we make over a given year. My husband plans to drive it all over the DMV area for work, and we’re confident it will get us where we need to go.
- Enjoy the ride! We are loving the experience of driving an EV and feel good about the fact that we’re not spewing toxic exhaust and climate pollution around our community every time we drive it.
Want to learn more about our journey to electrify our home? Check out my blog post from last year about replacing our gas furnace with a heat pump. Federal tax credits for making the switch to an electric HVAC system expire the end of this year.
We created a toolkit for KLA's local government clients to promote the tax credit opportunity within their communities. Feel free to use these pieces of that toolkit in your own communications:
