Persuading people to buy electric vehicles is key to the industry’s success, and EV credits – tax rebates provided by the federal government – make that possible for more people.

“Cashback” always sounds like a good deal, right? You might even have bought one or two things in your life that you did not actually need but did so because of a rebate or credit. When limes are 10 for a dollar, do you buy the two you’ll be using in tonight’s margarita or 20 because they’re on sale?

Electric vehicles are the future, and the future is here. The industry brings with it environmental benefits, economic opportunities and infrastructure development. EVs even have the potential to promote equity and improve community mobility options.

Let’s look closer at those benefits. EVs help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, which contributes to combating climate change. An expanding EV industry brings job growth, innovation and economic development in areas related to manufacturing, infrastructure and technology, and drives investments in charging infrastructure such as public charging stations. EVs can help reduce transportation-related emissions in historically disadvantaged areas and provide cleaner mobility options for those who may not have access to private vehicles.

Benefits notwithstanding, persuading people to buy electric vehicles is key to the industry’s success, and EV credits – tax rebates provided by the federal government – make that possible for more people. According to IRS.gov, “If you bought a new, qualified plug-in electric vehicle (EV) in 2022 or before, you may be eligible for a clean vehicle tax credit up to $7,500 under Internal Revenue Code Section 30D.”

Critics argue that EV credits benefit higher-income individuals, exacerbate existing socioeconomic disparities, and may lead to a loss in tax revenue, potentially burdening taxpayers who don’t benefit from the credits. They claim that the cost of implementing and maintaining these credits could outweigh the economic benefits and that focusing on charging infrastructure may divert resources from other sustainable transportation alternatives, such as public transit or cycling infrastructure.

So, are EV credits the way to go? Or do we buy ten limes when we only need two?

Rome wasn’t built in a day. Early technology adoption is almost always led by those to whom it is most accessible, and credits can open that umbrella wider. EV credits drive adoption, which drives benefits, which drives more adoption. Credits make more EVs affordable for consumers by reducing the upfront cost. The greater the adoption, the faster the price drops. And greater adoption leads to increased overall fuel efficiency and decreased reliance on fossil fuels. Before you know it, it’s the year 2030, and according to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections, more than half of us are driving an EV.

Rather than expand the divide, EV credits can promote equity by making electric vehicles more affordable for lower-income individuals and communities. An expanded charging infrastructure can help address range anxiety and enhance convenience for EV owners, facilitating the transition to cleaner transportation, including public transit.

As for cycling infrastructure, we can bike and EV at the same time. It’s the penny-perfect solution.

Written By: Aaron Bickart

It may sound like heresy, but Henry Ford was a procrastinator.

“I need a faster horse.” That was the consumer mantra when the early automobile market was still elite. People didn’t realize that cars were the answer and would soon be ubiquitous. So, when Ford introduced the Model T in 1908, the first gas-powered automobile widely available in the U.S., he thought he had reached his goal of building the “universal car.” 

This achievement required Ford to adapt the moving assembly line to manufacture his vehicles – arguably his greatest innovation – and to focus on that, he froze the design of the Model T. The new process was wildly successful, increasing delivery from 10,000 cars in 1908 to over 900,000 in 1920.

Ford offered affordable products to a larger segment of the population than had ever been available before. The cars were easy to drive and of good quality. Ford was sitting on a gold mine, and he was satisfied with that. Critics, as well as many of his own salesmen, urged him to diversify his product line. But Ford thought the only improvements needed were those made to defects, not style. Emphasizing his well-known perspective that his cars should be “any color so long as it is black,” he said ⎯

“It is strange how, just as soon as an article becomes successful, somebody starts to think that it would be more successful if only it were different. There is a tendency to keep monkeying with styles and to spoil a good thing by changing it.”

Ford, one of the world’s greatest innovators, had stopped innovating.

At the peak of Ford’s market domination, General Motors began producing cars for distinct market segments. Ford’s fortunes began to slip. And by 1927 when Ford brought the Model A to market, its market share had fallen from about 65% to nearly 15%, and it was losing $20 on each car it produced. Ford’s failure was simply his refusal to continuously innovate.

Modern technology is replete with similar examples – Blockbuster’s death by Netflix, Circuit City’s fall to Best Buy, Compaq’s loss to HP, Monster.com’s tumble to LinkedIn, all the old department stores consumed by Amazon…to name but a few. Another procrastinating giant drops to an innovating competitor every day.

A disproportionate number of successful-in-the-moment companies doing all the right things – making penny-perfect payments, maintaining their status quo – want to live off the legacy of their current businesses. Those are The Procrastinators. Others are always innovating and looking for the next sizzle – the next big thing – The Innovators.

Which are you? Are you satisfied? Are you comfortable? Are you looking to upgrade? Are you leading the pack? Are you chasing the tail? Are you worried it’s too late that you missed your chance?

In 1927 when Ford introduced the Model A, it was offered in four colors (no black) with a long list of useful performance improvements over the Model T. It was produced for five years during the Great Depression, with sales of over $4.3 million (roughly $74 million in today’s dollars). The Model A, Henry Ford’s last-ditch response to innovation demands he was reluctant to make, saved the business and secured its place in automotive history.

It seems clear: If you don’t keep innovating, you’ll almost certainly be left behind. Many of the mighty have fallen and not lived to tell the tale. Be like Henry Ford. Don’t procrastinate, innovate.

Written By: Aaron Bickart

What will my monthly payment be?

It’s the question on nearly every car shopper’s mind and a critical one to answer accurately if you’re going to make the sale.

To an industry that has been stalwart in its hands-on processes for decades, change sometimes comes hard. But like it or not, technology is reinventing the automotive world from end-to-end, and with that change comes both improved internal systems and an enhanced customer buying experience. We’ve all become accustomed to finding what we want, when we want it – online – and that expectation extends across the shopping landscape. Customers’ expectations are high and here to stay. Buyers want a seamless, hassle-free digital experience – one where they can dream about, shop for, compare, and order their new car from the comfort of their home, just as they would a new pair of shoes.

Yet, surprisingly, the digital advertisements that the shopper relies on to point them to their potential purchase often don’t accurately tell them how much the car will actually cost. They’re trying to decide which lender to choose, which dealer to work with, which car to pick. So they need to know: What’s my monthly payment?

Enter OfferLogix. Recognizing the need to eliminate the confusion, inaccuracy, and disconnect that exists between the vehicle, the customer, and the monthly payment, this innovative fintech company is delivering one-of-a-kind solution sets that answer the question: What’s my monthly payment? And it does so with “penny perfect payments” so when a consumer shops, the price they see is the price they’ll pay… to the penny. This is a game-changer for the automotive retailing industry.

The secret sauce is OfferLogix people. Over the last 20 years, this team has founded some of the most successful marketing and training companies in the industry and has collectively worked with 75% of the top 100 dealers and 18 manufacturers in the U.S. and around the world. Together they have pioneered leasing and finance payment advertising for digital retailing, desking and CRM tools, advertising agencies, OEMs, online portals, and dealers.

The result is OfferLogix’s patented fintech solutions and related web services which make it possible to generate and display accurate and fully disclosed lease and loan payments on vehicle lease advertisements, listings, specials, brochure pages, the web, social media, mobile devices, and so on. It accurately generates this data for existing inventory, including dealer margins and pricing, OEM and lender programs, taxes and tags, so the dealer can advertise precise and compliant payments on every vehicle, providing price transparency that results in higher conversions with more gross profit per vehicle. The OfferLogix API powers digital retailing presence with penny perfect payment accuracy.

And for the customer asking What’s my monthly payment?, OfferLogix creates that seamless buying experience they’ve come to expect by integrating directly into existing digital retailing platforms where they already shop.

“We want to be a one-stop shop,” says Aaron Bickart. “Our APILogix differentiates us from other vendors. We sell to B2B and channel customers looking for a streamlined, penny perfect experience that they can’t do themselves, and we partner with other industry leaders to provide a complete solutions package that draws on everybody’s expertise and innovation.”

In fact, OfferLogix recently partnered with Equifax to provide the only turnkey credit qualification service to agencies, digital retailing providers, dealers, OEM manufacturers, and customers. With QualifyLogix, providers can drive more funnel conversions with real-time, soft credit pulls, retrieving actual credit risk scores from Equifax for use in precise payment calculations with no impact to the consumer’s credit score.

Bickart says, “The ability to reflect real-time, precise, customized credit and penny-perfect payments across all customer touchpoints lets providers deliver consistent and credible offers unique to each customer. The days of dealers using third-party providers to pull and calculate scores are long gone. With our direct API, dealers don’t have to sit and wait for scores to pass through multiple funnels and additional call avenues.”

“And the integration doesn’t stop there,” says Bickart. “Using our CreditDrive built-in lead generation solution, dealers get high-value, prequalified leads validated by Equifax, so providers can improve the consumer’s online vehicle shopping experience.”

Technology and the digital revolution have put the customer behind the wheel, so to speak, and empowered them to make their own purchasing decisions with very little, if any, person-to-person input. And with OfferLogix, the customer will never again have to ask What’s my monthly payment? They’ll already know… to the penny.