The Chevy Silverado EV made its official debut in January of 2022, and now General Motors says it will qualify for the full $7,500 federal tax credit under the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). That’s good news since this new electric truck will likely be pricey.
The IRA, though passed in 2022, takes effect on April 18, 2023, with new rules for plug-in electric and fuel cell vehicles. In addition to electrification, this new law also takes into consideration vehicle price, household income and final assembly – which has to happen in North America – as well as mineral and battery sourcing.
Though we’re still trying to understand a lot of the requirements, according to the IRS website, the 10-cent summary of requirements to qualify are as follows:
For more details, as well as links to the IRS forms to claim the credits, be sure to visit the IRS website and its credits & deductions section.
In its brief 225-word press release, General Motors doesn’t go into detail about how the Chevy Silverado EV will qualify for the tax credit. But it does state that because of its investments in the U.S. and efforts to build more secure and resilient supply chains, it leads the industry in the number of models qualifying for the full credit.
Furthermore, the press release states:
“Over the next ten years GM will offer a broad selection of qualifying vehicles across numerous segments and price points, which will bolster our EV transformation as well as the U.S. production and adoption that these incentives were designed to support.”
In addition to the Silverado EV, other GM vehicles that qualify include the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV (both of which previously had been booted from the credit list), Equinox, Blazer and Cadillac Lyriq. One GM vehicle that won’t qualify: The GMC Hummer EV.
You can see a full list of vehicles that qualify for the credit on www.fueleconomy.gov.
Because Chevrolet hasn’t released full, official pricing yet, we don’t know exactly which models will qualify. But we do know Chevy has said the base WT will start at $41,595, and we discovered the 3WT and 4WT trims will start at $74,800 and $79,800, respectively. So, it appears only the WT (or Work Truck) trims will likely qualify for the credit. Insert sad trombone.
So, if you have your heart set on one of the upper trims, like the RST, with more features, qualifying for the federal tax credit is not in your future.
Trucks are expensive. Electric trucks are even more expensive. While it would be nice if you could off-set the price with a tax credit, only a select few trims for the Chevy Silverado EV will qualify.
The nut of the story: Get used to disappointment.