VW's Diesel Jetta Qualifies for Federal "Green Car" Tax Credit
Well, the car qualifies, but it's the buyers who'll get it -- a $1,300 federal income tax credit.
That's what comes with the first 60,000 of the 2009 Jetta TDIs that Volkswagen dealers sell.
The credit, from the same pot 'o funds that the hybrid credit comes from, is designed to help ease the pocketbook pain of buying greener cars with advanced or alternative -- and thus pricier -- powertrains and fuel systems.
The 50-state-legal '09 Jetta TDI, which hits dealer showrooms in late August (most dealers are limited to a single demonstration model right now), is priced $2,000 higher
than the standard gasoline model, so the credit will lower the diesel premium to just $700.
The diesel Jetta has recently been rated for fuel efficiency
by the Environmental Protection Agency at 30 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway -- in a test that the government acknowledges wasn't designed to properly rate diesels and tends to understate actual mileage. A test commissioned by VW showed better numbers of 38 miles per gallon in the city and 44 on the highway.
Using the lower EPA fuel economy numbers, it looks as if TDI owners will be able to save enough on fuel to pay off the price difference in a reasonable amount of time.
The standard Jetta SE sedan with an automatic is EPA-rated at 21 mpg city and 29 highway, for a combo of 24 miles per gallon, verusus the EPA combined of 34 mpg for the diesel.
So the driver of a 2009 Jetta TDI who logs 15,000 miles a year would use 184 fewer gallons of fuel per year than the driver of a gas model. If gas was $4 a gallon and diesel was $5, the diesel driver still would save $295 a year and would pay off the diesel premium in about 28 months.
If the fuel economy is considerably better than the EPA estimates, then payoff would come even sooner.
VW, not surprisingly, believes it will sell all of the Jetta TDIs it can build. Two versions are available: a 4-door sedan and a SportWagen hatchback (shown above).
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
- Posted by
- John O'Dell July 28, 2008, 10:50 AM
- Permalink
- Categories:
- Diesel, Fuels & Technologies, Tax Incentives, Volkswagen
- Technorati Tags:
- 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, Tax Credit
Awesome news! This is a car I'm interested in. One thing I don't like, though: I've checkeed out the specs at the VW website and the TDI wagon doesn't have many of the nice options of the SEL, eg, dual-zone AC. TDI users are forced to settled to mid-level equipment!
too bad the new Jetta is so damn ugly. The sportwagen looks like something Ford or Toyota would make... and not 'good' Ford or Toyota.
Styling = FAIL
TDI = WIN
Jetta = moderately excited
cruiserhead1, I DISAGREE completely with you. While the new Jetta sedan is indeed ugly and too big, the Jetta SportWagen is just HOT! It's gorgeous! The SportWagens (Jetta and Passat) are the only VWs I would consider buying as of now!
The main advantage is there's no exotic battery to worry about recycling. Just wait until those hybrids with their batteries begin to die. It will probably cost nearly as much in environment fees to recycle as the replacement battery costs. Electro chemistry is a problem waiting to happen! When thousands of batteries need to be recycled there will be a problem!