QOTD: Did The EV Tax Credit Matter?

by Tim Healey

Published: February 27th, 2026

Today's podcast took a look at the EV market in a post-tax-credit world.

If it still existed, would the EV tax credit have mattered to you and the decision to purchase, or not to purchase, an EV?

You know what to do. Sound off below.

[Image: Nissan]

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#EVs #QOTD #ElectricVehicles #QuestionOfTheDay

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

More by Tim Healey

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4 of 97 comments

Tim138934702 on Mar 04, 2026

rented a EV,very expensive to charge ,takes forever to charge,had to wait on line hours to charge,,runs out very fast, midday charging is crazy expensive,had to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning to charge ,where I live not many charge stations ,tires go bald fast,couldn't use heat in the winter ,ran battery down fast,winter is brutal on battery,charging time,,capacity,etc,went broke on charging,you satisfied?

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- Joh168697807 on Mar 04, 2026
  
  This response was OK until the remark about tire wear on renting an EV! As I mentioned in my earlier comment, the use of EV's and ICE vehicles have their appropriate place. I rented EV's before I purchased one. Before renting I made sure that there were enough charging stations in the area of use, otherwise I would rent a ICE vehicle. No problem renting an EV in Florida, but I would not rent one in western Kansas! I loaded the charging stations apps on my phone, as most of these will tell you if there are chargers available, rather than taking the chance and waiting in line. Also who you rent from has a big impact. Hertz wants the vehicle back with the same amount of charge that it left with. However (assuming the policy hasn't changed) Budget just requires a minimum of 20% charge on return. Thus on my last trip to Florida, rented the EV at a lower cost than any ICE vehicle on the lot, drove it 220 miles and returned it with no fuel or charging charge. In this circumstance it beat an ICE vehicle cost by a large amount. Once again, I make decisions on the situation without being either a EV or ICE evangelist. Also would like to add some personal facts. I will probably get about 20,000 to 25,000 miles of tire wear on my Polestar 3 versus 30,000 miles of wear on my performance tires on my sports coupe. Battery range on the Polestar 3 went from 320 miles of interstate driving in the summer down to 220 miles at 10 F using full cabin heat. That range is plenty for local use and I could drive to Cincinnati or Cleveland and back from central Ohio in the cold of winter with just a 10 minute stop to add some charge. You just need to add the amount of charge required to get back home, assuming like me you can charge at home. Any further travel I would of used my ICE car. EV's are not trash if some thought is used as they are not for everyone in every location. Just like I don't call ICE vehicles trash because of some very bad rental experiences with them,
  
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- E**169275769 on Mar 04, 2026
  
  Well said .The next thing that’s going to be a big problem with EVs is the tire dust.Watch videos of these things driving down the road straight , turning, braking , just normal driving .the tire dust that comes of the special tires is really bad .People breath this deadly dust .Makes gas fueled emissions very mundane .These are microscopic and get into lungs etc .These vehicles are truly dangerous .They have sunk large ships , caused billions of dollars of losses .The ships sinking caused pollution with much more to come when tanks begins to fail under high pressures on the bottom of the ocean.In addition further proof of how dangerous they can be , 9 , as of a month ago,probably more now, of the largest ocean RORO ship owners companies will no longer ship EVs .This alone should concern EVERYONE but the ev cultist simply do not discuss it ( proof that they know it’s a big problem).
  
  1
Jjj65706895 on Mar 04, 2026

Ah Massachusetts! Where the only vote that counts is the on your cast with your feet!
!

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