US ELECTRIC VEHICLE TAX CREDITS ENDING FOR NEW TOYOTA BUYERS

Toyota customers soon won’t be able to get U.S. federal tax credits for buying electric or hybrid vehicles.

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The automaker expects that sometime before the end of June it will reach a 200,000-vehicle cap on the credits, Bob Carter, Toyota’s head of North American sales, said. After that, the credits will be phased out over the next year, reaching zero, as Tesla and General Motors already have.

The lack of credits is problematic for automakers shifting from petroleum-powered vehicles to batteries in the effort to reduce emissions, meet government fuel-economy standards and fight climate change. Nissan is about 30,000 vehicles away from reaching the cap, and others will follow as more EVs are introduced.