July 8, 2009 -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has offered legislation that would double the current tax incentives for the purchase of natural gas vehicles and natural gas refueling stations, and would extend them for a decade. The credits, which can be used to cover 80 percent of the added cost to buy natural gas-fueled vehicles over conventional automobiles, would jump to as high as $12,500 for passenger cars and light trucks and as much as $64,000 for vehicles in higher weight classes. A similar measure was introduced in the House this year.
Refueling Stations
Under the bill, tax credits for natural gas refueling stations would be doubled to as much as $100,000. The legislation also includes a provision that would allow businesses to claim 100 percent of the cost of building a manufacturing facility placed in service before Jan. 1, 2015. There are more than 250 million vehicles on the road in the U.S., and of those 142,000 are powered by natural gas.
Source: Bloomberg News: “Tax Credit for Natural Gas-Fueled Cars May Be Doubled (Update1)”, by Daniel Whitten.