(Radio Iowa) – Iowans who bought electric vehicles last week may have qualified for a 75-hundred-dollar federal tax credit, but that credit evaporated when 2024 arrived. The Inflation Reduction Act aims to shift battery production from China and incentivize production in the U-S, so cars with Chinese-made batteries aren’t eligible. Bruce Anderson, president of the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, says the regulatory hiccup will have a short-term impact on buyers, but he anticipates E-Vs only becoming more available across the state.

“They’re there and they’re ready and they’ve been getting ready for the past couple of years,” Anderson says, “but the credit piece is changing.” If you priced electric vehicles last year but held off buying until now, you may be surprised to find the popular Nissan Leaf or Tesla Model 3 have lost eligibility for the big tax credit.

“They really changed at the stroke of midnight New Years Day,” he says. “There were vehicles on the showroom that qualified on December 31st that didn’t qualify on January 1st.” Major U-S car manufacturers are adjusting their supply chains to comply with the changes, but in the meantime, the list of vehicles eligible for the tax credit decreased from 43 to 19. Anderson says as car manufacturers shift their supplies, that eligibility number will rebound.