I've read the Prime is a very good plug-in, but they seriously need to game our incentives better. If they couldn't build the minimum size battery to maximize the federal tax credit, they should have built the largest battery that doesn't qualify for the credit and stuck with that until they could seriously take advantage.
I'm still not clear how to interpret the IRS code.
One source says the original Prius Plug-in with a 4.5 kWh battery qualifies for the minimum $2,500 credit, even though the code says that 5 kWh is minimum.
Quote:
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the credit is equal to $2,500 plus, for a vehicle which draws propulsion energy from a battery with at least 5 kilowatt hours of capacity, $417, plus an additional $417 for each kilowatt hour of battery capacity in excess of 5 kilowatt hours. The total amount of the credit allowed for a vehicle is limited to $7,500.
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Then it's not clear if that is usable capacity, or total capacity. The Prius plug-in has a 4.4 kWh battery, but only about 3 kWh usable.