The phenomenon of EV buyers rushing to take advantage of a federal tax credit that expires at the end of September has been well-documented here and elsewhere.
But changes to transportation policy under President Donald Trump’s so-called One Big Beautiful Bill also spell the end of a tax credit that helps offset the costs of installing EV charging equipment.
“There’s a lot of public attention in the market on the expiration of 30D coming up at the end of September,” Josh Cohen, who heads up the policy team at Swtch Energy, told Tech Brew. Swtch provides EV charging solutions to multifamily property owners and commercial real estate developers across the US and Canada.
“But there’s less general awareness about 30C,” he added. “And that is a very impactful incentive.”
Credit where due: The 30D credit offers EV buyers up to $7,500 in incentives on certain new EVs and up to $4,000 for eligible used models.
30C refers to the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit, which was established by the 2005 Energy Policy Act under former President George W. Bush. The program has since been extended numerous times, including in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Under the Biden administration, new eligibility requirements expanded access to the credit. It’s now set to expire on June 30, 2026.
The credit, per the IRS, “is available to businesses and individuals who install qualified refueling or recharging property, including electric vehicle charging equipment, in an eligible location.” Eligibility is limited to census tracts in low-income communities or in non-urban areas.
Individuals can claim the credit for up to 30% of the cost of the property or up to $1,000 per item (for example, per charging port). For businesses and other entities like tax-exempt organizations, the credit can equal 6% of the property cost, up to $100,000 per item.
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“With some customers, the customer was already pretty committed to moving forward, and the 30C credit made it more economical and helped it pencil out better,” Cohen said. “With other customers, I think it’s fair to say the 30C credit was critical to their go/no-go decision.”
Next steps: In Cohen’s view, the rollback of policies supporting electrification won’t stop the EV transition. But he believes moves like this will widen equity gaps in how EV charging infrastructure is deployed across the US, given the program’s focus on installing charging equipment in rural and low-income areas.
“What the near-term impact is going to be, in my view, is that the disparity between more affluent urban communities that have access to charging will grow, compared to less affluent urban communities and rural communities,” he said. He likened EV adoption today to the rollout of broadband access more than two decades ago.
“Broadband became essential to doing business and competing in the economy,” Cohen said. “And it’s not exactly the same thing, but I definitely see a similarity, that electric vehicles and access to EV charging is going to similarly become essential in tomorrow’s economy.”
Meanwhile, Cohen encouraged property owners who are interested in taking advantage of the program to start as soon as possible, because it could take months to go through the engineering, permitting, and utility connection process. Property owners should look into EV charging companies that have experience with the credit, plan for potential future charging needs, and consider the interoperability of the equipment they plan to install, he said.
“To get a charger placed into service, property owners need to be thinking about it now,” Cohen said. “So even if someone purchases a charger today, it may still be a bit tight to make the June 30 deadline for having it placed into service.”