The tax crédit is only good if you make enough to be taxed.

ArtistDe, good point. And those that don't make enough can't afford a $38k car in the first place, but rather drive used cars. I don't understand why my money goes to the wealthy folks that can afford the expensive cars in the first place. Once again, the rich taking advantage of the shrinking middle class.

It should be a rebate and automatic full $7500 so that poor people get the same rebate as rich people. It's simply not fair to index it so the more you make the more you get back. That's completely wrong--typical of Republicans!

Those who argue against government subsidies for cars like this are right... to a point. The economically efficient solution is a carbon tax which would let the costs of different fueling options reflect actual economic costs. Because politicians can't do the right thing, we're stuck with second best approaches. Which is why we have weird subsidies that may, in fact, further distort income inequality. That said, doing something to limit global warming is better than doing nothing at all because the ideal solution is out of reach.

The government subsidy is actually suppressive toward progress in any technology.Capturing the subsidy becomes senior to any kind of product improvement.

Sounds like we are getting there ,if the quality is good enough .I for one , am tired of oil changes ,transmission fluid changes ,buying tune up parts and exhaust systems and brakes - in other words ,even though ,I am not a GM fan ,I believe ,I am ready for a car like this . Kevin

Why do EV's have to be funky-looking ?

$30,000 obviously a car for the masses... LOL. Let's see, I can buy a gas car, used or otherwise, get better mileage. As far as no oil changes, no transmission oil changes, tune-up etc. You will still have such cost. You don't really think the auto dealers are going to give up that golden egg.. do you...

Batteries are/were still pretty expensive meaning EV's are still pretty expensive. So the government allows buyers to get a tax credit in exchange for helping to subsidize an expensive technology until it's more affordable for everyone else.
Only a couple years ago they were $500/kWh, I think more recently they are starting to hit $250/kWh and GM announced their costs are an industry leading $145/kWh but that is only for the cell cost and not the entire pack. At $500/kWh the pack alone in the Bolt would have cost $30,000. Even if you use $145/kWh it's still $8,700.
In general people who don't make enough money to pay taxes aren't buying cars like the Model S or even the Bolt but I am glad to see the people that can as early adopters of EV.
Eventually EV's will probably be cheaper to own (and perhaps even manufacture) that ICE vehicles and the subsidy will no longer be needed. Personally I think after the $7500 subsidy expires there should be a smaller $3,000 one for a while before it goes away entirely.
This is the closest we have ever been from being able to move away from fossil fuel vehicles by far. I would prefer if the industry didn't pull the rug out from under the subsidy EV's require just yet.
On the other side of that price the companies involved are generally not yet making a profit on electric vehicles partially because of early R&D costs and low sales volumes.
The ultra low gas prices are great for consumers but a setback for EV's because it's a natural subsidy for efficient vehicles. EV's become financially viable pretty soon at $4/gal but much later at $2/gal and the subsidy should probably help carry the torch until that gap is bridged where EV's match or pass gas cars in lower total cost of ownership. From that point forward the market will take care of it.