I have been reading the text of the recently passed H.R. 6, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which may be already signed by President Bush by the time I post this. I am more interested in the Hybrid Vehicle and alternative energy portions since the text is quite lengthy.

Of interest to members now purchasing cars, SEC. 30B. ALTERNATIVE MOTOR VEHICLE CREDIT authorizes tax credits for 2006-2010 new vehicle purchase year. Although, in typical government-speak, the Bill does not set absolute amounts, it does set limits. The baseline is the "2002 model year city fuel economy". Credit amounts range from $400 if the vehicle "achieves at least 125% but less than 250% of the 2002 model year city fuel economy" to $2,400 for achieving 250%. I would expect the FEH to meet the maximum but I could be wrong.

The determining factor is stated as follows:

There are similar, but higher, credits for fuel cell vehicles, and similar but higher credits for heavy hybrids (more than 8,500 lbs.).
There is a section of the Bill that authorizes grants from $3,000,000 to $20,000,000 from 2005-2008 for:

This is great news for Felix Kramer and the CalCars Initiate, which lobbied hard for inclusion of monies to continue working on a plug-in hybrid. Of course, the dollar amounts are nowhere near as high as they should have been but it is hoped that manufacturer R & D credits elsewhere in the Bill will spur Ford, and others to also come forward with grants.

If you wish to read the Bill on your own, I found most of my information at the following link:

http://www.eactivist.org/mygov

I am a bit perplexed by the effective date of the Bill. In some places it states the effective date to be the day of passage so this would mean hybrids purchased delivered and paid for since 1-01-05 would qualify. I would not count on what your dealer tells you.

 

Mike, there was a discussion about the bill in another thread in the General Forum on Friday. I quoted an article from money.cnn.com which said hybrid purchases after Jan. 1 would qualify. I know what you mean about finding out when this stuff takes effect... I know the extention of Savings Time wouldn't be until 2007. Would be great if it applied upon signature to 2006 *models* as I'm looking into an FEH purchase in the near future (i.e. before Jan. 1).
Also, there were some calculations of how the FEH would do tax credit-wise. One was $1,300, another was $1,950, both for the FWD version. Not sure how they came up with different amounts, but I'm sure the language in the bill is as clear as mud!! As I understand it, it has something to do with "inertia weight classes"..... I'm having flashbacks to my college Statics & Dynamics classes....

Fred