Hyundai offers $7,500 cash for EVs to match U.S. tax credits

Hyundai Motor Co. will give as much as $7,500 in cash bonuses for electric-vehicle buyers in the U.S., seeking to keep its cars competitive with automakers qualifying for tax credits under President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

The discounts apply to the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6 and Kona Electric, and the month-long incentive will last through Jan. 31, according to the Korean automaker's website. Hyundai's EVs couldn't meet the requirements under the clean vehicle tax credit program, which aims to encourage domestic production of EVs and components. 

Without any operational EV factory in the US, Hyundai is building an EV plant in Georgia that could start assembly as soon as the end of 2024. Hyundai and affiliate Kia sold a total of 69,259 battery-powered vehicles in the U.S. in 2023, the second-biggest EV maker behind Tesla Inc., according to BloombergNEF.

Lionel Ng/Bloomberg

Few vehicles are eligible for the credits, however, and the list of qualifying car models may shrink further due to tough rules pushing automakers to reduce their reliance on Chinese suppliers for parts.

The Biden administration is looking to revive American industry while tilting the economy away from fossil fuels. The IRA also intersects with a separate national security objective: to free the U.S. and its allies, as much as possible, from dependence on supply chains it sees as vulnerable to China.