After what seems like a million years of negotiations between politicians, it appears that the climate bill (now the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022) is finally on its way to being passed. Like any bill, there’s a lot to unpack, but we’re really going to focus on one thing: how it helps everyday people buy electric cars.

If you’re looking to buy an electric vehicle (EV) right now, you have the potential for a $7,500 tax credit. Woohoo, right? Well, that’s great if you actually have a $7,500 tax burden. Oh, and certain automakers like GM, Toyota, and Tesla? Yeah, their vehicles no longer qualify for the credit because they started selling EVs (or hybrids in Toyota’s case) en masse before everyone else. Yeah, punishing companies for doing the right thing early is weird.

So it worked for years. You buy an EV. Later, when you file your taxes, you get a nice credit. Sure, it’s been used mostly by the rich, who gobble up Model S’s, but the reality is that it put EVs on the road. But now we need change, and this bill does just that.

The biggest complaint about the current system is the tax credit part. If you buy an EV, you still have to pay the full price of the car. Sure, you get the tax credit that you can hopefully use to get a refund from the government to pay off your loan, but the reality is that sometimes that doesn’t work.