Tax incentive for fuel cell vehicles will expire in the US

Federal tax credits for clean vehicles will no longer be available at the end of the year

The federal tax credit provided by the U.S. government to support the adoption of fuel cell vehicles will expire at the end of this year. The legislative session for Congress has come to an end, and federal lawmakers have not chosen to address the issue in any way. With the legislative session over, lawmakers will not consider the possibility of introducing a new tax incentive until they reconvene next year.

Tax credit had helped promote the adoption of clean vehicles by making them more affordable

The tax credit had offered those purchasing fuel cell vehicles, and other electrics, as much as $8,000 for simply purchasing one of these vehicles. The initiative was meant to incentivize the purchase of clean vehicles, helping lower their price and make them more attractive to consumers. While the federal government has been showing support for clean transportation, Congress may not be moving fast enough to ensure that tax incentives remain active. One of the last things that Congress did during the legislative session was renew old tax credits that had expired at the end of 2013.

Fuel cell vehicles may not have benefited from the federal tax credit

While many benefited from the tax incentives for electric vehicles, those set aside for fuel cell vehicles were rarely used. This is because there are a limited number of fuel cell vehicles currently available, and most of these vehicles can only be found in California. Most major automakers do not plan to launch their own fuel cell vehicles until 2015 and beyond. Without tax credits, consumers may not be eager to purchase these expensive vehicles.

Fuel cell vehicles are expensive

Fuel cell vehicles are quite expensive because the energy systems that they use are also expensive. Fuel cells make use of platinum and other costly materials, and manufacturing these energy systems represents a sizeable investment. In order to recover from losses from the manufacturing process, automakers have to charge more for vehicles that use fuel cells.