Note: Tesla does get the $7500 and gets it immediately, from the customer, who is then reimbursed later by the US government. If you check Tesla's website they

Note: Tesla does get the $7500 and gets it immediately, from the customer, who is then reimbursed later by the US government. If you check Tesla's website they count on this: they advertise Tesla prices after the rebate, even though the customer will go out of pocket for more. This may be a moot point though. Before Telsa gets this $7.5k, Tesla gets a subsidy of $1.5k in regulatory credits per vehicle from the US government for producing electric vehicles (around the same / more than BYD gets per vehicle from the Chinese government).