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GM Won’t Cut Price on Bolt EV to Offset Shrinking Tax Credit

General Motors Co. tells Reuters it won’t adjust the retail price of its Chevrolet Bolt electric car to offset after a federal tax credit drops 50% on Monday.
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General Motors Co. tells Reuters it won’t adjust the retail price of its Chevrolet Bolt electric car to offset after a federal tax credit drops 50% on Monday.

But the company adds that does plan to roll out its own sales incentives for the Bolt (pictured), an approach it says offers more flexibility.

The federal EV incentive gives buyers a $7,500 tax credit, but only on the first 200,000 units sold. GM reached that mark earlier this year. When that happens, the incentive drops to $3,750, then continues to shrink in steps to zero over 15 months. Reuters says the credit will disappear entirely for GM in April 2020.
 

Last year GM sold about 18,000 Bolts in the U.S., down 23% from 2017. Last week the company announced it will spend $300 million to prepare an assembly plant in suburban Detroit to make a new Bolt-based electric model.

Tesla Inc. was the first EV maker to face disappearing tax breaks for customers when it achieved the 200,000-unit sales milestone last July. The company responded in January by lowering the prices of all models by $2,000 to offset about half the impact.

Analysts say demand for EVs remains highly sensitive to price, making discounts critical until the actual cost of electric vehicles aligns with that of piston-powered alternatives. The Trump administration has rebuffed auto industry pleas to extend the federal tax credit program.

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