An electric vehicle manufacturer is making its case in court that Treasury Department rules implementing EV tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act illegally exclude low-speed vehicles.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, California-based Waev, which makes a line of vehicles with a maximum speed of 25 miles per hour, contends that Treasury’s rule misinterprets the intent of Congress to promote increased EV sales.
“Not all EVs need to travel more than 200 miles or operate at highway speeds — especially when roughly 50 percent of trips are less than five miles on local roads,” said Paul Vitrano, chief legal and policy officer of Waev, in a statement accompanying the lawsuit. “Safe, street-legal, right-sized low-speed electric vehicles should be incentivized as the important mode of modern mobility that they are, not excluded by an antiquated regulation.”
Treasury’s rule, finalized May 6, define which vehicles qualify for the IRA’s federal tax credits. The regulations face other threats, including criticisms that they open a loophole for Chinese companies to benefit from the incentives.
