Obama administration wants rebate on electric cars

SMYRNA, Tenn. – U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a group of Nissan executives and workers on Tuesday that the Obama administration wants consumers to be able to get a tax rebate at dealerships when they buy electric cars.

The federal government currently offers a $7,500 tax credit on the purchase of electric vehicles, but that can't be taken until buyers file their income taxes.

LaHood said he expects the change to be a part of any tax bill that is passed in the next year and a half.

He made the remarks during a tour of Nissan North America Inc.'s lithium-ion battery plant in Smyrna. When the plant is complete in late 2012 it will be the largest of its type in the nation, able to produce 200,000 batteries a year for the all-electric Nissan Leaf, which will be built next door.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_re_us/us_nissan_transportation_secretary

Nissan Motor Co. will get as much as $197 million in tax breaks and other benefits to move its North American headquarters to Tennessee from California, benefiting from ``super credits'' Tennessee offers to big employers.

The largest part of the incentives is annual tax credits of $5,000 per employee for 20 years. Nissan, which is building a $70 million headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, also will be reimbursed as much as $64 million, or about $50,000 a worker, for costs of moving employees from California.

The headquarters, which includes about 1,275 jobs, may generate $527 million a year in revenue for the state, said Matt Kisber, commissioner of Tennessee's Economic and Community Development Department, in an interview yesterday. ``If I can invest $1 and get back $2.50, I'm going to do it every time.''

Nissan, Japan's second-largest automaker, is moving its North American base from Gardena, California, to cut costs and be closer to its factories. The regional headquarters, announced Nov. 10, was a first for the southeastern U.S. The region in the past 20 years has attracted factories built by Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aOLdoiTLBMUs&refer=japan

Maybe Nissan should lower the price.....