Congress Considers Tax Breaks for Hybrid Cars
Date: 10-Feb-05
Country: USA
Rep. Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, proposed a bill on Tuesday that would offer tax credits of between $600 and $4,000 per vehicle, depending on the model and the energy-saving technology used.
The current one-time federal tax deduction of $1,000 for a hybrid car or truck drops to $500 next year and will be phased out in 2007. Some states also offer tax incentives for hybrid vehicles.
Legislation similar to Camp's plan cleared the House of Representatives last session as part of a broad-based energy bill that fell one vote short of passage in the Senate.
While energy saving gas-electric hybrid vehicles are becoming more popular with the public and more are being made, they are not a mass-market product or a profit maker for manufacturers.
Operating with an electric motor and a gasoline engine and getting up to 60 miles (96 km) per gallon in some cases, hybrids usually sell for thousands of dollars more than comparable conventionally powered cars and trucks.
Other technologies covered by Camp's bill, which was endorsed by auto manufacturers on Wednesday, include leaner burning diesel fuel and fuel cells, which are still in the testing phase.
