Dealers Will Register Soon for New, Used EV Tax Credit Transfers
Dealers in the coming months will be able to sign up for preapproval for point-of-sale tax credits on new and used electric vehicles, a senior Treasury official told reporters Thursday. Details are not yet clear. According to Automotive News, starting in January, consumers will be able to transfer EV tax credits of up to $7,500 to dealers at the point of sale so those funds can be applied to the down payment. The credit transfer is allowed under the Inflation Reduction Act's section 30D credit for EV purchases and the consumer incentive for used EVs, known as 25E. "In the next few months, dealers will be able to register via an online IRS portal," Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy Lily Batchelder said in the press briefing. "In January, registered dealers will be able to submit 'clean vehicle' sales information to the IRS and promptly receive payments for transferred credits." The U.S. Treasury Department also said it plans to issue more guidance by Dec. 31 that is crucial to the act's EV tax credits and other incentives, including a much-anticipated rulebook on the "foreign entity of concern" provision. Click here for the full story.
Cox: Dealers' Views of Market Positive, Holding Steady in Q3
Franchised auto dealers continued to view their markets favorably during the third quarter but without any major net improvement from the second quarter, according to the latest Cox Automotive Dealer Sentiment Index poll. Retailers surveyed in the third quarter saw new-vehicle inventory improve and profits remain high, but interest rates and the economy remained concerns. Cox also noted a softening in franchised dealers' expectations for electric vehicles. According to Automotive News, the Cox poll ran from July 24 to Aug. 8 and drew responses from 554 franchised dealership representatives and 429 independents. "Dealer competition has resulted in more competitive pricing, and new-vehicle levels are stabilizing," a Jeep dealer in the Northwest told Cox. "Many customers have been holding off on a purchase and will be enticed with more favorable pricing and stronger rebates." Franchised dealers rated their third-quarter market a 57, up a point from the second quarter and stronger than nearly every quarter of polling before the COVID-19 pandemic began significantly disrupting the industry in the second quarter of 2020. However, the score was down from the 62 Cox recorded during the third quarter of 2022. Click here for the full story.
Continental, Google Team to Deploy In-Vehicle Chatbots
Automotive supplier Continental plans to put Google’s AI-enabled chatbot into vehicle cabins through a partnership announced at IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich, Germany. Without actually mentioning Google’s chatbot, called Bard, the two companies say they are equipping cars with the technology, which also will integrate Google Cloud capabilities directly into vehicle computers. This opens the door to the AI chatbot as a voice assistant so users can interact with their car in natural dialogue, reports Wards. The companies claim the system will be able to assist the driver in multiple ways, from answering what the correct tire pressure of the vehicle should be when fully loaded, to listing known local points of interest on the route and at the prescribed destination. The driver can also ask follow-up questions without repeating the whole context, as Google Cloud’s conversational generative AI interprets the context correctly. Continental’s onboard technology gives the system access to specific vehicle information, such as the operating manual. AI-powered machine learning allows the system to constantly learn, create new content and adapt to the user’s preferences. Click here for the full story.
Honda and Acura EVs Will Officially Adopt the Tesla NACS Port in 2025
Honda and Acura are the next manufacturers to jump on the NACS bandwagon, and while we heard the first official rumblings in Monterey, Thursday was Honda’s (and Acura’s) official announcement. Autoblog reports, the first EV that Honda will launch with the NACS port will be in 2025. Just like every other automaker making the switch, Honda says it reached an agreement with Tesla to adopt the charging port. After that first Honda with the NACS port launches, every new Honda and Acura EV model in North America will have the same port. However, just like many others, Honda and Acura will have EVs on sale prior to 2025 that will ship with the current Combined Charging System (CCS) port. These models will be designed to be compatible with NACS use via a charging adapter, so you’ll ultimately be able to charge them via Tesla Superchargers one day. Outside of this Tesla NACS agreement, Honda says the news today doesn’t change its joint venture with seven other automakers to build an EV charging network and expand the number of charging stations available for all. Click here for the full story.
California Shows an Electric-Car Uprising Headed for the U.S.
If you want to know how quickly electric vehicles might spread across the US, just look at California. In the past five years, EVs have gone from 2 percent of new-car sales in the state to 22 percent. The pace of adoption in California picked up significantly once EVs reached 5 percent of new-car sales, a threshold at which preferences start to flip for mainstream car buyers, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of EV adoption curves around the world. California was one of the first major car markets to reach that tipping point, in 2018, and so far, 23 countries have been added to the list. If California were itself a country, it would now rank fourth in terms of overall EV sales; only China, the US and Germany sell more. The pace of adoption in the state shows no signs of slowing, either, with second-quarter EV sales rising 70 percent over the same period in 2022. The U.S. as a whole is just three years behind California, and currently tracing its path. If the trend continues, a quarter of new car sales could be electric by 2026. Click here for the full story.
Around the Web
Duke Energy to begin EV Charging Subscription Pilot Program in N.C. [Auto Remarketing]
New Toyota Century SUV Is Profoundly Weird (in a Cool Way) [Motortrend]
Polestar Will Make a Phone Before Apple Makes a Car [Jalopnik]
