Buying a New Tesla? The EV Tax Credit Will Soon Come Off at Time of Purchase

October 14, 2023

By Kevin Armstrong

In 2024, the US EV tax credit will come off the car at the time of purchase

Tesla

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced measures that could benefit Tesla buyers. Consumers will soon enjoy the benefits of the federal tax credits at the point of sale for new and previously owned clean vehicles, a move that aligns perfectly with Tesla's mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

Immediate Rebates on New and Used EVs

Starting January 1, 2024, under the Inflation Reduction Act, buyers of new clean vehicles like Teslas can transfer a credit of up to $7,500 directly to car dealers. For those eyeing previously owned clean vehicles, a credit of up to $4,000 can be transferred. This system effectively reduces the vehicle's purchase price instantly. No longer will buyers have to wait for their annual tax return to see the benefits; instead, they can enjoy an immediate reduction in their Tesla's price.

This initiative is not just a win for consumers but also for dealers. The IRS is launching a new website, IRS Energy Credits Online, where dealers must register to facilitate these clean energy tax credits. Starting in January, dealers registered on this platform can submit information on clean vehicle sales and quickly receive payments for transferred credits, often within a 72-hour window.

Ensuring Transparency and Authenticity

Buyers transferring the credit will see the purchase price of their Tesla reduced or receive a cash amount equivalent to the available credit for the eligible vehicle. Dealers must provide clear disclosures during the credit transfer process, ensuring buyers fully know the credit's amount and eligibility.

In addition to ensuring clarity for consumers, the guidance also emphasizes safeguards against fraudulent practices. Verification processes will be in place to ensure that only legitimate, tax-compliant dealers benefit from these advance payments and that only qualifying vehicles receive the credit.

Tax Implications Simplified

The newly proposed rules also address these transactions' federal income tax implications. For Tesla, credit transfers and advance payments won't significantly impact their tax liability. And for buyers, payments made by dealers, whether as cash or towards the vehicle's down payment, won't be considered part of their gross income.

The Inflation Reduction Act paves the way for more affordable access to clean vehicles. After a confusing start to these credits, it appears the IRS is now responding to consumer and market needs. This move is poised to further propel Tesla's already skyrocketing popularity, making sustainable driving more accessible.

Tesla Smoking While Supercharging? A Look at What's Actually Happening

February 12, 2025

By Karan Singh

Hot_Engineering3140 on Reddit

Winter is here, and temperatures are dropping, so one of the most common Tesla questions is about to resurface.

If you’ve landed here after frantically searching about “smoke” coming from your Tesla while Supercharging, take a deep breath—it’s completely normal.

Tesla Smoking While Charging

If you’re Supercharging in freezing weather—even with preconditioning—you might notice steam rising from your Tesla. But rest assured, your car isn’t smoking.

Your Tesla’s heat pump is hard at work warming both the cabin and battery to keep you comfortable and ensure optimal charging temperatures. Over time, condensation and ice build-up in the heat exchanger coils.

Why Does It Happen?

When you reach a Supercharger with your vehicle, the heat pump is still running hot, but without the cold air from driving to keep the heat exchanger coils cool, the ice and condensation quickly start to evaporate—creating what looks like smoke.

Since this typically happens near the front of the vehicle, where a car would traditionally have an engine, new vehicle owners can be startled by the discovery. However, rest assured that it’s just water vapor and it’s completely normal in cold weather.

In fact, this behavior can be experienced in any EV with a heat pump in cold climates. So, if you saw steam coming out of your vehicle and panicked, don’t worry—you’re not alone.

Now that you know what’s happening, go ahead and Supercharge with confidence.

Tesla Improves YouTube App With Smoother Playback

February 12, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla made a lot of improvements in the 2024 Holiday Update, including more than 15 undocumented improvements that were included in the release. One of these was a stealthy performance improvement to the YouTube app.

Several people have mentioned they’ve seen improved performance on YouTube since this year’s Holiday Update - and there’s an interesting reason why.

YouTube Improvements

The improved YouTube performance in Tesla vehicles comes from an unexpected source—Tesla actually rolled back support for YouTube’s newer AV1 video encoding. Instead, vehicles now default to the older VP9 encoding standard.

While AV1 is highly efficient in terms of bandwidth, it requires considerably more processing power to decode and display videos. VP9, on the other hand, is less computationally demanding but uses more bandwidth to achieve the same video quality. This trade-off means smoother playback and better overall performance, even if it comes at the cost of slightly higher data usage.

Intel Inside

The VP9 video codec that the YouTube app is now using is much easier to decode, making it less taxing on the vehicle’s processor. This change is particularly beneficial for Tesla vehicles with Intel processors, which previously struggled to stream video at just 720p. When using AV1, these vehicles often experienced stuttering, sometimes forcing the YouTube app to automatically downgrade playback to 480p.

With this update, Intel-based Teslas should now be able to stream at 1080p smoothly. Streaming at 1440p is also possible, although occasional stutters still occur as the system keeps up with the decoding process.

Intel-based vehicles are the big winners with this change, but this appears to affect AMD Ryzen-based infotainment units as well, providing even smoother playback.

Chromium Web App

Tesla’s Theater apps aren’t native applications; instead, they run as chromeless web apps, leveraging the open-source browser built into Teslas known as Chromium (the open-source version of Chrome). Although this works quite well, there is a severe limitation - Chromium hardware acceleration isn’t supported on Linux, the operating system Tesla uses for their OS.

As a result, Tesla vehicles rely on software decoding instead of hardware decoding, which would otherwise handle video playback far more efficiently. A potential solution could be for Tesla to transition away from Chromium-based web apps in favor of a Mozilla Firefox-based browser, as Firefox does support hardware acceleration on Linux. This switch could also open the door to better streaming performance and the possibility of expanding Tesla’s in-car entertainment options.

However, Tesla’s choice of Chromium likely stems from Digital Rights Management (DRM) requirements for streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix, which rely on DRM-enabled playback. Firefox on Linux has had inconsistent support for DRM due to codec availability and variations in operating system versions.

We’re hopeful that Tesla will either adopt Firefox or develop a fully native application to improve video streaming, rather than continuing with the current web-based Tesla Theater. This shift could also pave the way for additional in-car applications built on Tesla’s native Linux environment—perhaps even reviving the long-rumored Tesla App Store.

Regardless, this update is a welcome improvement, particularly for YouTube, which remains one of the most widely used Theater Mode apps due to its accessibility, free content, and mix of short and long-form videos. It remains to be seen whether similar improvements are made for Netflix, Disney+, or other streaming platforms.

If you’ve noticed improved performance in Theater Mode, now you know why.