Can I claim the 30% home battery credit for an EV with bi-directional charging?

While I understand the logic you're using, I think you might be facing an uphill battle with this one. The IRS is pretty specific about the "primary purpose" requirement for battery storage. Even if your truck is parked and plugged in most of the time, its designed primary purpose is transportation. The key issue is that the IRS looks at the intended design purpose of the equipment, not necessarily how you personally use it. Electric vehicles, even with bi-directional charging, are manufactured and sold primarily as transportation devices. That said, if you were to permanently install the battery from the truck in your home (which I'm not suggesting you do!), that would be a different story. But keeping the battery in the vehicle, even if rarely used for driving, would likely disqualify it under current guidance. I'd recommend looking into dedicated home battery systems like Tesla Powerwall, Enphase, or other stationary systems that are specifically designed for home energy storage. These clearly qualify for the credit and don't create a gray area that might trigger an audit.

I was in a similar situation last year trying to figure out if I could claim tax credits for various energy upgrades. I ended up using https://taxr.ai which was a game changer for me. I uploaded the IRS guidance docs and manufacturer specs for my system, and their AI analyzed everything and gave me a clear answer about what qualified. For your specific situation, I'd suggest uploading the vehicle specifications, the IRS guidance on the 30% credit, and any documentation about your home integration setup. Their system can analyze all of that together and give you specific guidance on whether you can claim the credit and what documentation you'd need. Definitely helped me avoid making claims that might have triggered an audit.

Just wanted to follow up on my skeptical question about taxr.ai - I decided to try it with this exact EV battery credit question and was really impressed. I uploaded the IRS guidance on the residential energy credit, the specs for the F-150 Lightning with the home integration system, and some additional documentation about bi-directional charging. The analysis it provided was incredibly detailed - it walked through each requirement of the credit and applied it to the EV situation with references to specific IRS publications and previous rulings on "primary purpose" determinations. It highlighted the risks of claiming the credit (potential for audit) but also provided the supporting arguments I could make if I did decide to claim it. Definitely not just a generic answer or educated guess like I initially thought. Worth checking out if you're dealing with unusual tax situations like this.

After reading through this thread, I can see why you're confused about whether your EV battery qualifies. I had a similarly frustrating experience trying to get clear answers from the IRS about solar credits last year. Called them multiple times and either couldn't get through or got different answers each time. I finally used https://claimyr.com to get an actual IRS agent on the phone. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically wait on hold with the IRS for you, then call you when an agent is on the line. Got a definitive answer about my situation in one call instead of wasting days trying to get through. For something as specific as your EV battery question, I'd recommend going straight to the source rather than relying on opinions. The IRS agent I spoke with was actually really helpful once I finally got through to them.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment yesterday, I was still stuck on this exact same EV tax credit question and decided to give it a try out of frustration. Got connected to an IRS tax law specialist in about 90 minutes (without me having to sit there listening to hold music). The agent actually knew about this specific scenario because they've been getting similar questions about the new electric trucks with bi-directional charging. The answer was definitively that vehicles primarily designed for transportation do NOT qualify for the residential energy credit, regardless of how they're being used. However, the agent did point me to a different commercial clean vehicle credit that might partially apply in my situation. Would have taken me days to get this information on my own. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong!

Has anyone looked into whether you could claim a partial credit based on the percentage of time/capacity dedicated to home energy storage? I'm thinking about how the home office deduction works, where you can deduct a percentage of expenses based on the portion of your home used for business. Maybe there's a way to claim that 75% of the battery capacity is dedicated to home energy storage if you can document that usage pattern. Just thinking out loud here.

This is why our tax code is so messed up. An EV battery providing power to a house is functionally identical to a Powerwall doing the same thing. But one gets a tax credit and one doesn't because of some arbitrary distinction about "primary purpose." Meanwhile the electrical grid gets the same benefit either way! Politicians talk about wanting to encourage clean energy adoption but then create these convoluted rules that just confuse everyone. Ugh.

Based on what I've seen from following similar cases, the IRS has been pretty consistent about denying these claims for EVs, even ones with impressive bi-directional capabilities. The "primary purpose" test isn't really about how you use it day-to-day, but about what the manufacturer designed and marketed it for. That said, I'd suggest documenting everything about your home integration setup - the equipment you purchased specifically for home connection, any monitoring systems showing energy flow patterns, utility company agreements if you're selling power back to the grid. Even if you can't claim the residential energy credit, this documentation might be useful for other incentives or if the rules change in the future. Also worth checking if your utility company offers any rebates or time-of-use rate programs for customers with bi-directional EV charging. Sometimes the utility incentives can be more valuable than the federal tax credits anyway, and they don't have the same "primary purpose" restrictions.