Seeking to provide more incentives for purchases of fuel-efficient vehicles, Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on Aug. 6 introduced the Efficient Vehicle Leadership Act of 2009.
Senate Bill 1620, co-sponsored by Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN) and John Kerry (D-MA), calls for a program to reward Americans with fuel performance rebates who buy cars and trucks with gas mileage that exceeds the fuel efficiency standards for the corresponding car or truck class. Rewards can amount to several hundred or several thousand dollars.
Under this plan, manufacturers of gas guzzlers will be assessed a fuel performance fee to put back into the program.
The sponsors of the bill hope this measure will spur the auto industry to forge ahead in increasing fuel efficiency of vehicles as they have pledged to President Obama. They also emphasized the urgency in decreasing America’s dependency and outstanding consumption of foreign oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enabling Americans to save money.
The rebates would be effective in 2011 while fees assessed against manufacturers are delayed to 2013 to allow time for production adjustments. A rebate for a Honda Civic or Ford Focus would be approximately $1,000. Owners of a Ford Escape Hybrid could qualify for a $2,500 rebate, Toyota Prius drivers would receive as much as $4,000, and a Chevy Volt rebate would be almost $8,000. An adverse fee for a Hummer H3 would total approximately $2,500.
Car owners receiving current incentives for fuel-efficiency will continue to reap those benefits until they expire. New buyers will be allowed to choose between the tax credit or rebate. The fees will replace the current gas-guzzler tax.
