[ziravan]

The tax credit was part of the 2009 porkulus package. It might have been an idea germinated by Pres. Bush, I don’t recall, but he didn’t enact it.

http://www.pluginamerica.org/incentives

“$2,500 to $7,500 tax credit, depending on size of battery (4 kWh to 16 kWh), for electric-drive vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) sold after December 31, 2008. This is the best and biggest new incentive brought on by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (stimulus bill), and applies to at least 200,000 units per vehicle manufacturer before it begins phasing out.”

[LogicDesigner]

“The tax credit was part of the 2009 porkulus package. It might have been an idea germinated by Pres. Bush, I don’t recall, but he didn’t enact it.”

The 2009 stimulus bill that you referenced merely expanded the existing tax credit. The one Bush signed into law applied to the first 200,000 vehicles produced; the one Obama signed into law changed it to apply to the first 200,000 vehicles produced per manufacturer. This meant that the first two or three manufacturers to bring EVs to market could not hog all the tax credits. Instead, it put all manufacturers on an even playing field.