Free car! Your taxes at work
Dec 21, 2009 10:31 AM
Should a golf cart be worth an incentive?
Photo: iStockphoto
Photo: iStockphoto
Drive Electric is taking advantage of a large federal tax incentive for the purchase of an alternative fuel vehicle, along with a relatively obscure classification for low speed, or Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs). NEVs are limited to 25 mph or so and are not street legal in many states. In theory, the tax incentive is in place to motivate the sale of alt-fuel cars and offset a likely price premium, fostering their development and sale. It would seem the rules for qualification are a bit loose.
A GEM of an incentive
Arguably the best-known NEV is the e4 from Global Electric Motorcars (G.E.M.). It was designed by Dan Sturges during a stint at the University of California, Davis, as a substitute for traditional vehicles for local travel. As an alternative to a scooter, it offers a modicum of crash protection. Because they are limited by law to a top speed of 25 mph, they are suitable for gated communities. Some towns allow them on roads with speed limits up to 35 mph.
What’s less well known is that you don’t need a G.E.M. to qualify for the tax credit. A basic golf cart enhanced with a windshield, mirrors, seat belts, and turn signals will qualify. (And in the case of a Premium version of Drive Electric’s two-seat ZonE electric golf cart, a qualifying model could even include luxuries, such as wood dashboard trim and a windshield wiper.)
And traditional golf carts with these accessories are a lot less expensive than a G.E.M. In fact, Drive Electric is advertising their base street-legal golf cart, the zonE NEV-48 EX, for $6,496.53 – perhaps not so coincidentally exactly the same as the amount of the federal tax credit it qualifies for as an electric vehicle through Dec. 31.
In fairness, G.E.M. is also making a splash of the available tax credit on its Web site.
While it won’t actually displace any traditional gas cars off the road, it might make a few consumers happy. If that’s the case, who are we to complain? Oh, right. We’re the taxpayers.
—Eric Evarts
And traditional golf carts with these accessories are a lot less expensive than a G.E.M. In fact, Drive Electric is advertising their base street-legal golf cart, the zonE NEV-48 EX, for $6,496.53 – perhaps not so coincidentally exactly the same as the amount of the federal tax credit it qualifies for as an electric vehicle through Dec. 31.
In fairness, G.E.M. is also making a splash of the available tax credit on its Web site.
While it won’t actually displace any traditional gas cars off the road, it might make a few consumers happy. If that’s the case, who are we to complain? Oh, right. We’re the taxpayers.
—Eric Evarts
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