§13258 Credits

Summary

The Secretary must give a credit to any fleet or covered person who gets more alternative fueled vehicles than they are required to have, or who gets them earlier than the required date. The law defines a few vehicle types in one line each: fuel cell electric vehicle — an on-road or off-road vehicle that uses a fuel cell; hybrid electric vehicle — a new qualified hybrid motor vehicle (as defined in the tax law); medium- or heavy-duty electric vehicle — electric or hybrid vehicle over 8,501 pounds gross weight; neighborhood electric vehicle — a 4-wheeled electric vehicle with a top speed over 20 mph but not more than 25 mph and that recharges from an outside power source; plug-in electric drive vehicle — a vehicle with a battery of at least 4 kilowatt-hours that can be recharged from an external source. By January 31, 2009, the Secretary must set how much credit to give for buying any of those vehicle types and for investing in qualified alternative fuel infrastructure or nonroad equipment. The Secretary may also give more than 1, but not to exceed 5, credits for investing in an emerging vehicle technology to encourage less petroleum use, better technology, and lower emissions. Each credit equals one vehicle. If a vehicle is bought early, the owner gets one credit for each year it is early. A credit can be used to count as one vehicle in a single year chosen by the owner. Credits can be freely transferred to other fleets or covered persons, and transferred credits are used the same way. For the alternative fuel provider program under section 13251, a transferred credit counts only if section 13251(a)(4) is met. Money to run this rule is authorized as needed for fiscal years 2008 through 2013.