ALL TEXAS OWNERS (or future owners) please post on this thread

They sent me the necessary paperwork via FedEx 3 or 4 days after pick up. I had to title and register the vehicle myself at the DMV. I actually did it yesterday.
I just got the paperwork from Fedex too. Did you have to do inspection on the car before going to DMV to submit for Title and registration? I am getting conflicting information about the process. Pls advise. Also, did you process and pay the sales tax at your local county tax office or at the DMV? Thanks
 
I just got the paperwork from Fedex too. Did you have to do inspection on the car before going to DMV to submit for Title and registration? I am getting conflicting information about the process. Pls advise. Also, did you process and pay the sales tax at your local county tax office or at the DMV? Thanks
I went to the tax office without the inspection and they sent me away. I was able to get it inspected down the street. It cost 7$. They are basically verifying the VIN. I paid tax and registered at the Dallas County Tax office. That’s where you get your plates etc.
 
I went to the tax office without the inspection and they sent me away. I was able to get it inspected down the street. It cost 7$. They are basically verifying the VIN. I paid tax and registered at the Dallas County Tax office. That’s where you get your plates etc.
State inspection is auto pass for EV, only $7, not $29 like ICE car with muffler check.
 
Imo, I think Lucid as first year production EV, they exceeded Tesla’s first year 2009 at approximately 6000 units. But Lucid is now having building order reservation issue facing recession.

By the end of 2009, Tesla had sold 937 Roadsters and they didn’t really make it that great. It was mostly done by Lotus Motors. Elon is good business man leveraging others’ resources instead of building using own $. Unlike Tesla’s execution at beginning, Lucid started off burning huge of their own $$ making factory and R&D.

2012, Model S was delivered 3100 production leveraging from GM bankrupted asset Freemont Factory. Tesla was hoping GM will just roll over and play dead to close more factories and let Tesla buy them out to save more cost. Not so fast! Tesla has already best profit margin out of all car makers. But that will be eroded hard with so many EVs coming into market. Market is going to be very competitive 2023 and forward, Tesla cannot keep raising price anymore with lesser materials but piggybacking on driver-assist techs and supercharging network to demand that kind of margin forever.

When Lucid Air Pure comes to production, people will realize $87,400 of most basic Air Pure is more attractive than the most basic Model-S at $104,990 not even come with basic charging cable. Even the most basic $69,900 Model-Y Performance doesn’t look attractive price next to Air Pure. Elon has leveraged Tesla forward earning valuation stock price to start his personal Twitter endeavor. Maybe he hopes to sell Twitter to back to Tesla one day when Twitter is reorganized to have more attractive valuation. But meanwhile, Elon will be facing multiple margin calls very soon and more liquidation to keep afloat.

I personally think Tesla make good cars, but it is a bit on overpriced side compare to all the new products out there. Elon has to lower his ego to adjust Tesla products to new market condition. Personally, I like to see both Lucid and Tesla succeed long term.
Reputation is everything and they have the First to market advantage. Scaling production still seems to be an issue for Lucid.

As you stated competition will demand better cars at cheaper price but I agree Air Pure could be their ticket. GT not so much, would be interesting to see the reservations this coming QTR as well.
 
State inspection is auto pass for EV, only $7, not $29 like ICE car with muffler check.
It's not an auto pass. The lights, blinkers and brakes are checked but on a new car those should not be an issue.
 
It's not an auto pass. The lights, blinkers and brakes are checked but on a new car those should not be an issue.
Right! It’s still basic windshield wipers, lights etc etc must be functional. But that was easy breezy at Jiffy Lube. I see Teslas in and out literally just pay $7 at my neighborhood.
 
I went to the tax office without the inspection and they sent me away. I was able to get it inspected down the street. It cost 7$. They are basically verifying the VIN. I paid tax and registered at the Dallas County Tax office. That’s where you get your plates etc.
This is good information to have.
 
I went to the tax office without the inspection and they sent me away. I was able to get it inspected down the street. It cost 7$. They are basically verifying the VIN. I paid tax and registered at the Dallas County Tax office. That’s where you get your plates etc.
Thanks for the info.
 
Yesterday I drove from Houston Memorial mall ramp to Katy Mills mall, 17 miles distance took me almost an hour during rush hour. Thank goodness for Highway Assist. During the drive, it went to complete stop and resume few times. This Highway Assist lessened frustration of traffic jam.

 
Is there still any state or federal tax rebate for purchasing and installation of an EV charging station for Texans?
 
Is there still any state or federal tax rebate for purchasing and installation of an EV charging station for Texans?
I think the federal tax credit was restored at 30% of the total cost, up to $1,000.

Pretty sure there are no state level credits/rebates, but you can check with your utility provider as several do provide some sort of rebate for installation. I don't think I'm going to take advantage of the Austin Energy credit because of the terms of their agreement, which basically says that anytime within 3 years they can swap out my charger with one of theirs, at their option, even if it's in my garage.

Austin Energy offers EV owners a rebate of 50% of the purchase and installation cost of a Level 2 (240V) charging station. The maximum rebate amount is $1,200 for Wi-Fi enabled charging stations with the capability to communicate with the utility and $900 for non-Wi-Fi enabled charging stations. Participants must be Austin Energy electric customers and must have purchased or leased a plug-in electric vehicle.

Plug-in and hard wired charging stations must be UL, ETL, or cETL listed and receptacles for plug-in stations must be UL, ETL, or cETL listed. By accepting this rebate, you agree to a 3-year commitment to the following:

  • that Austin Energy may, at any time during your commitment period, replace your charging station with an Austin Energy-owned charging station located in your home and on your side of the meter;
  • that Austin Energy may install and operate Austin Energy owned data monitoring or charge management devices in your home and on your side of the meter;
  • that you agree to participate in surveys and interviews about your charging habits and/ or participate in future Austin Energy charge management Programs, which could enable Austin Energy to utilize Participant’s charging station communication signals to perform charge and load control functions including cycling charging.
 
I think the federal tax credit was restored at 30% of the total cost, up to $1,000.

Pretty sure there are no state level credits/rebates, but you can check with your utility provider as several do provide some sort of rebate for installation. I don't think I'm going to take advantage of the Austin Energy credit because of the terms of their agreement, which basically says that anytime within 3 years they can swap out my charger with one of theirs, at their option, even if it's in my garage.

Austin Energy offers EV owners a rebate of 50% of the purchase and installation cost of a Level 2 (240V) charging station. The maximum rebate amount is $1,200 for Wi-Fi enabled charging stations with the capability to communicate with the utility and $900 for non-Wi-Fi enabled charging stations. Participants must be Austin Energy electric customers and must have purchased or leased a plug-in electric vehicle.

Plug-in and hard wired charging stations must be UL, ETL, or cETL listed and receptacles for plug-in stations must be UL, ETL, or cETL listed. By accepting this rebate, you agree to a 3-year commitment to the following:

  • that Austin Energy may, at any time during your commitment period, replace your charging station with an Austin Energy-owned charging station located in your home and on your side of the meter;
  • that Austin Energy may install and operate Austin Energy owned data monitoring or charge management devices in your home and on your side of the meter;
  • that you agree to participate in surveys and interviews about your charging habits and/ or participate in future Austin Energy charge management Programs, which could enable Austin Energy to utilize Participant’s charging station communication signals to perform charge and load control functions including cycling charging.
That’s interesting if they replace with a crappy and unreliable station or they try to throttle your charging sessions.

BTW - am I right to assume the federal credit/rebate is claimed during tax filings or is there a separate process for that? Thanks for any insight.

There is so much non clarity on these credits that I don’t even know what I qualify or not qualify for at this time. Reserved my vehicle before AUGUST with the $1000 down payment took delivery before 2022 year end and still not sure whether that is the same as binding contract as defined by the IRS. So many threads with multiple interpretations.
 
That’s interesting if they replace with a crappy and unreliable station or they try to throttle your charging sessions.
Definitely gave me a pause when I saw the language and now am likely not taking it due to that. Hooking up my Lucid charger in coming days and want the full 80A that we're setting up for, rather than a throttled down, likely refurbished charging station. And also if Lucid does figure out the bidirectional charging in near future, wouldn't want that capability taken away...
BTW - am I right to assume the federal credit/rebate is claimed during tax filings or is there a separate process for that? Thanks for any insight.
Yes, there is a form in your tax filing that handles that. Form 8911. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8911.pdf

There is so much non clarity on these credits that I don’t even know what I qualify or not qualify for at this time. Reserved my vehicle before AUGUST with the $1000 down payment took delivery before 2022 year end and still not sure whether that is the same as binding contract as defined by the IRS. So many threads with multiple interpretations.
Would defer to a CPA on the ultimate ruling, but if you took delivery before the end of the year, I would think you'd get the full $7,500 federal tax credit on the vehicle without any issues. I think the real issue came with people that weren't able to take delivery prior to year end.
 
Yesterday I drove from Houston Memorial mall ramp to Katy Mills mall, 17 miles distance took me almost an hour during rush hour. Thank goodness for Highway Assist. During the drive, it went to complete stop and resume few times. This Highway Assist lessened frustration of traffic jam.

Glad it worked well for you! I always take the tollway/HOV lane on that stretch of I-10, but always have family with me. I do hope they open up Highway Assist on non-freeways soon Lots of divided highways in Austin where it would be really nice, but I'm sure they're working on it!
 
Yesterday I’ve learned few things about Air GT when driving from Houston to Dallas.

- The Highway Assist can only be set at 90 mph maximum. It won’t go higher than that.

- When in Sprint Mode, Precondition Battery can not be initiated. Perhaps Sprint already generated so much heat in battery energy transmission.

- Houston to Dallas can be there in one shot without charge; however, my bladder eventually succumb to Lucid battery to stop at Ennis for EA stop.

- EA new generation 350 kW stalls are superior at plug and play and inject 200kW~330kW charge flow. A year or 2 from now, these EA facelift will make road trips more pleasant for non Tesla low range EVs.
 
Yesterday trip was interesting. I had 3 Tesla drivers on 45N freeway trying to catch up to film the car.

But BMW drivers are different obnoxious breed. 😂

Twice BMW ICE challenged me cutting me off on 75mph Highway Assist. I went 80~120mph zoom passed them.

BMW = Back of My Window
 
Yesterday trip was interesting. I had 3 Tesla drivers on 45N freeway trying to catch up to film the car.

But BMW drivers are different obnoxious breed. 😂

Twice BMW ICE challenged me cutting me off on 75mph Highway Assist. I went 80~120mph zoom passed them.

BMW = Back of My Window
Ha ha ha!
It is a given that a BMW will challenge you.
I used to own a BMW 640i and I know it won't catch up to my Touring.
 
Yesterday I drove from Houston Memorial mall ramp to Katy Mills mall, 17 miles distance took me almost an hour during rush hour. Thank goodness for Highway Assist. During the drive, it went to complete stop and resume few times. This Highway Assist lessened frustration of traffic jam.


I tried the Highway Assist for a few minutes yesterday on I-10 and it was good. My family was in the car with me but didn't tell them what I was doing so they don't freak out. 😁
 
Girolamo - Zenith Red AGT, San Antonio
I have about 1200 Miles on it so far.
One observation-in contrast to some others, I have no problems with my radar detector (Valentine V1) in the window. Laser detection had to be turned off, as it was set off constantly... No big deal here.
 
Upgraded from Pure to Touring...expecting delivery in about 2-3 weeks....what should be some of the first things to do? I am getting PPF and window tints for sure...but other than that any pointers while picking up the car from the Houston Service Center? After that what did you do? Looking to learn from others' feedback/experience...
 
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