How You Can Score Some Clear Savings on Honda’s New Clarity Plug-In Hybrid

The case for investing in Honda’s all-new Clarity plug-in electric hybrid (PHEV) vehicle gets stronger all the time. There’s a compelling financial case to be made on top of making good environmental sense. Compelling along the order of generous federal and Colorado tax credits on your purchase or lease.

SAVE MONEY AND THE ENVIRONMENT BY GOING ELECTRIC!

Plug-in hybrids use fossil fuels (gasoline or diesel) only when they run out of electricity and so their greenhouse gas emissions from their tailpipes are much lower. That’s good for the air and atmosphere, which is why the government is providing the incentives. Clarity’s electric-only range is 47 miles. The Clarity has a combined gasoline/electric range of 340-miles. Overall, consumers will spend less for electricity to fuel their vehicles than they would on similar gas-powered vehicles.

TAX CREDITS ABUNDANT FOR EV AND PHEZ DRIVERS

The feds offer up to a $7,500 tax credit on the 2018 Clarity. Leased vehicle tax credit is less. Colorado’s tax credit, meanwhile, is $5,000 on a purchased PHEV and $2,500 for a similar leased vehicle. The federal tax credits will be phased out once Honda has sold 200,000 PHEVs and electric vehicles, while the Colorado tax credit will be phased out in stage by January 2022.

There are some qualifiers, including what your tax bracket is, so you should be sure to check with your tax adviser, as well as your Schomp Honda client advisor, to see precisely how much you are eligible to receive. Other qualifiers include requiring that you title and register your new Clarity in Colorado.

COLORADO IS A LEADER IN IMPROVING AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

Colorado is moving aggressively toward more stringent emission limits and EVs and PHEVs are the most reliable ways for manufacturers to achieve them. Governor Hickenlooper recently signed an executive order that instructs the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to develop a rule establishing a Low-Emissions Vehicle (LEV) program in Colorado similar to one in effect in California. It would reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 26 percent by 2025.

The Colorado Air Quality Control Commission could adopt this new rule in August and it would add Colorado to the 12 states and the District of Columbia with tougher emissions standards than the federal government has.