As Ford Authority reported late last month, both Ford and General Motors were reportedly working to effectively extend the $7,500 federal EV tax credit for leases beyond its expiration date by using their respective financing arms to make a down payment on qualifying models and initiate the purchasing process in existing inventory, after which dealers could pass the savings down to customers. However, GM opted to ditch that plan just yesterday, and now, Ford has followed suit.
According to Automotive News, Ford will also not move forward with plans to place deposits on in-transit and existing inventory amid worries that EV sales will tank, at least in the short term. Instead, The Blue Oval will continue to offer discounted leases on EVs through the rest of 2025 – without claiming the federal EV tax credit on those models.
“Ford will not claim the EV tax credit but will maintain the competitive lease payments we have in the market today to continue providing customers with more affordable electric vehicle options,” Ford spokesperson Said Deep said a statement. “For customers who want to purchase an electric vehicle, Ford Credit continues to offer 0 percent financing for 72 months and other incentives.”
“We have a certain amount of inventory in the market, and we wanted to make sure that we were setting up our dealers for success to run out through the rest of the year,” said Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Ford Model e. “We don’t expect it to go through the end of the year, but we wanted to make sure that we were in a good position to do that.”
Though this particular move was indeed legal by IRS standards, U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and John Barrasso contacted Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, expressing concerns about how Ford and GM would be seemingly taking advantage of taxpayers if both opted to use the “loophole” to claim additional tax credits.
“This guidance, while well intentioned, is unfortunately being taken advantage of by certain car companies who wish to continue bilking the U.S. taxpayer,” Moreno and Barrasso wrote in a letter to Bessent. “It has come to our attention that certain car companies are gaming this guidance by instructing their captive financial entities to enter into written binding agreements with dealers for electric vehicles, paying a nominal downpayment, to secure the credits on vehicles that may not be leased to the end user for months. Given this concerning information, we write to request your assistance to close this loophole and address the total violation of Congressional intent by these nefarious actors.”
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