II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2161 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and modify the 

credit for certain plug-in vehicles. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 6, 2012 

Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend 

and modify the credit for certain plug-in vehicles. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. EXTENSION AND MODIFICATION OF CREDIT 

4 FOR CERTAIN PLUG-IN VEHICLES. 

5 (a) EXTENSION.—Subsection (f) of section 30 of the 

6 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘December 31, 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 

8 2016’’. 

9 (b) MODIFICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) CREDIT AMOUNT.—Section 30 of the Inter2 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

3 subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following: 

4 ‘‘(a) ALLOWANCE OF CREDIT.—There shall be al5 lowed as a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter 

6 for the taxable year an amount equal to the sum of the 

7 credit amounts determined under subsection (b) with re8 spect to each qualified plug-in electric vehicle placed in 

9 service by the taxpayer during the taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(b) PER VEHICLE DOLLAR LIMITATION.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount determined 

12 under this subsection with respect to any qualified 

13 plug-in electric vehicle is the sum of the amounts de14 termined under paragraphs (2) and (3) with respect 

15 to such vehicle. 

16 ‘‘(2) BASE AMOUNT.—The amount determined 

17 under this paragraph is $1,500. 

18 ‘‘(3) BATTERY CAPACITY.—In the case of a ve19 hicle which draws propulsion energy from a battery 

20 with not less than 5 kilowatt hours of capacity, the 

21 amount determined under this paragraph is $417, 

22 plus $417 for each kilowatt hour of capacity in ex23 cess of 5 kilowatt hours. The amount determined 

24 under this paragraph shall not exceed $3,000.’’. 


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1 (2) CREDIT ONLY TO APPLY TO 2 OR 3 WHEEL

2 VEHICLES.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of sec4 tion 30(d) of such Code is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIED VEHICLE.—The term ‘specified 

7 vehicle’ means any vehicle which has 2 or 3 

8 wheels.’’. 

9 (B) INCREASE IN BATTERY CAPACITY.— 

10 Clause (i) of section 30(d)(1)(F) of such Code 

11 is amended by striking ‘‘(2.5 kilowatt hours in 

12 the case of a vehicle with 2 or 3 wheels)’’. 

13 (3) CREDIT FOR PLUG-IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES

14 ALLOWED FOR VEHICLES WITH ALTERNATIVE ELEC15 TRICAL ENERGY STORAGE DEVICES.— 

16 (A) CREDIT ALLOWED FOR NEW TECH17 NOLOGY.— 

18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (F) 

19 of section 30(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986, as amended by paragraph 

21 (2), is amended— 

22 (I) by striking ‘‘battery’’ and in23 serting ‘‘power source’’, and 

24 (II) in clause (i), by inserting 

25 ‘‘(or, in the case of a power source 


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1 which is not a battery, the appropriate 

2 energy equivalent to such capacity, as 

3 determined by the Secretary)’’ after 

4 ‘‘4 kilowatt hours’’. 

5 (ii) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Sub6 section (d) of section 30 of such Code is 

7 amended by redesignating paragraph (4) 

8 as paragraph (5) and by inserting after 

9 paragraph (3) the following new para10 graph: 

11 ‘‘(4) POWER SOURCE.—The term ‘power source’ 

12 includes a battery or an alternative electrical energy 

13 storage device.’’. 

14 (B) AMOUNT OF CREDIT.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of 

16 section 30(b) of the Internal Revenue Code 

17 of 1986, as amended by subsection (a), is 

18 amended by inserting at the end the fol19 lowing new sentence: ‘‘In the case of any 

20 plug-in electric vehicle which uses a power 

21 source other than a battery, this first sen22 tence of this paragraph shall be applied by 

23 substituting the appropriate energy equiva24 lent measurement for the number of kilo25 watt hours.’’. 


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1 (ii) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The 

2 heading of paragraph (3) of section 30(b) 

3 of such Code, as amended by subsection 

4 (a), is amended by striking ‘‘BATTERY CA5 PACITY’’ and inserting ‘‘CAPACITY’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to vehicles acquired after Decem8 ber 31, 2011. 

Æ 


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