Diesel Response
I’ve formulated my response to the diesel tax credit, and mailed it off a few places, as if it will matter. For what it’s worth:
I recently wrote to the Diesel Technology Forum, to ask about the proposed diesel tax credit. I received this handwritten response:
If enacted, the credits would apply to diesel cars & trucks up to 6000 lbs gvwr – and would be based on the % fuel economy improvement over a conventional gasoline engine – range of $500 to $3000. Saving a gallon of fuel in a Hummer is good – so is saving a gallon of fuel in a VW Jetta!
It is clear that this plan is based on the assumption that:
- Every diesel sale is a 1:1 replacement for a gas vehicle in the same range.
- No one ever skips “downsizing” because they can get a subsidized diesel.
- No one ever “upsizes” because the larger diesel is subsidized.
That seems to be a dangerous gamble, especially given that we are putting our money at risk in an environment of government deficit, and not government surplus.
I don’t believe the Forum has any data on customer behavior to support this gamble. I believe, they (understandably, perhaps) have crafted a bill that favors their backers.
I don’t think such a bill will play well in the current environment. We tax payers are already sick of subsidies to large and expensive SUVs. The response to yet-another Hummer endowment will bring (understandably, from my POV) howls of protest.
I think it is clear that this risk is eliminated, entirely, when credits are focused on cars and trucks with the highest fuel economy. If credits are to be made, I would like to see them granted on a pure miles-per-gallon metric, for cars achieving more than 40 mpg. Rather than favoring a specific technology, let’s set the reward at the finish line.
Sincerely
[my name]