A great selling point of electric vehicles is that your days of pumping gas are over. But with the number of EVs eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit about to fall sharply—or vanish for some models—the savings from going electric, if any, are getting murkier.
Many shoppers don’t buy EVs for purely economic reasons. The cars are cutting-edge technology, quiet and zippy, and don’t pollute the air directly. Tesla (ticker: TSLA), the market leader, made EVs cool and practical, prompting other car makers to jump in with rival models. EV sales are expected to rise 25% this year, reaching 8% of the new-car market. For consumers, federal and state tax breaks may sweeten the deal, part of a broad push by the government to curb the country’s carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels.