BECOME AN ELECTRIC CAR PIONEER - Electric Cars, Packed With A Trunkful of Perks

Federal tax credits, state rebate checks, personal charging stations, home visits, government giveaways; even customer service calls from top corporate executives.   These are the perks currently available when purchasing one of the new electric vehicles on the market.   All this attention, from governments and automakers, is part of a deliberate effort to foster a demand for cars that produce no tailpipe emissions and pioneering individuals will reap these substantial financial benefits.

Since Mr. McNaughton, paid his $99 deposit, he has been bombarded with government incentives; promises of a $7,500 federal tax credit; a $2,500 cash rebate from the state of Tennessee, and a $3,000 home-charging unit courtesy of the Energy Department.

When he had questions about the Leaf; a senior manager in Nissan’s corporate planning department spent 40 minutes on the phone answering them.  “You kind of feel like you’re one of the chosen people,” Mr. McNaughton said.  Nissan has even hired a firm to make “home visits” to prospective buyers to make sure their garages are properly equipped for charging the vehicle and to answer other questions.  A 240-volt home charging unit can give the vehicle a full charge in about eight hours, Nissan says.

The government subsidies are shaving thousands of dollars off the Leaf’s $32,780 sticker price, while other benefits are piling up, like free parking in some cities and the use of express lanes on highways usually reserved for cars with multiple passengers.

In Tennessee, where a Leaf assembly plant is being built, Leaf drivers will be able to charge their vehicles free at public charging stations on 425 miles of freeways that connect Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

Mr. McNaughton said he was unaware that he had even applied for a free 240-volt charging station for his home. But by filling out a questionnaire, he was selected to be one of 5,700 new Leaf owners to get the charging unit. In exchange, he agreed to let the EV Project; a $230 million national program financed by various government agencies, utilities and corporations monitor his battery-charging habits.

“It’s almost shocking how many subsidies are available on the Leaf,” said Jeremy P. Anwyl, chief executive of the auto research Web site Edmunds.com. “We are putting a lot of money behind this technology.”

The Obama administration has made electric vehicles a centerpiece of its drive to reduce the nation’s reliance on oil, and is pumping up government subsidies with a goal of getting a million electric cars on the road by 2015. Proponents of electric cars also point to their zero tailpipe emissions, though the electricity to charge the cars creates emissions.   Government subsidies won’t last forever however and most likely will be phased out in a couple of years as electric vehicles take hold.

If you are considering purchasing an electric vehicle, now is the time to take advantage of the multitude of incentives available for buyers…

To read the entire article, click here http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/electric-cars/