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Buying or leasing an electric vehicle (EV) will no longer come with a federal tax credit. On Thursday, Congress approved legislation, which Trump has called the “big, beautiful bill.” The bill will give tax breaks to corporations and cut spending on Medicaid by $1.2 trillion. After Trump signs it into law on the 4th of July, it also will end tax credits on buying or leasing EVs, effective Sept. 30. Since 2008, purchasing an electric vehicle has come with an incentive: a $7,500 federal tax credit for new vehicles. The incentive was expanded in 2022 to include up to $4,000 on used EVs. While EVs cost an average of $9,000 more than a gas-powered vehicle, not paying for gas means you’ll eventually make up the cost. Plus, the environmental impacts are well-known. However, despite the benefits of EVs, the incentive, which helped boost American sales, will soon be a thing of the past. While the bill does away with the tax incentive, it also eliminates penalties for failing to meet Corporate Average Fuel Economy shortfalls, making it easier for automakers to build gas-powered vehicles. On Thursday, the Electrification Coalition, an EV advocacy group, said the bill will have negative impacts on the American EV market, giving other markets like China a competitive advantage. In a July 3 statement, it warned, that as EVs secure a growing share of the global automotive market, it is obvious that the future of transportation is electric; this bill forfeits Americas role in that future to China. And as other markets lean into the EV market, the U.S. is already lagging behind. Electrification Coalition Vice President of Policy Anne Blair echoed the same sentiment, saying, Without a competitive U.S. EV industry, we will remain dependent on volatile oil markets to power our vehicles and reliant on China for the critical minerals used in most advanced technologies. We are incredibly disappointed that Congress has made a choice to entrench these vulnerabilities.Experts are predicting escalated sales leading up to the Sept. 30 deadline. Dan Levy, Barclays’ auto analyst, wrote in a research note, that without the incentive sales will take a steep downturn. We believe the bill reiterates the slowdown ahead for EV penetration in the US, with both the carrot (i.e. tax credits/incentives) and the stick (i.e. emissions regulations) softened, Levy said, per Reuters. One study from Harvard University projected that ending the incentive will save the U.S. government $129 billion in the next 10 years. However, it will reduce EV market penetration by 6% over the next five years. That downturn could have big environmental impacts like dirtier air and greater greenhouse gas emissions.
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E-Commerce
Today, Friday, July 4, 2025, is Independence Day. The day, also known as the Fourth of July, celebrates the founding of the United States of America. Independence Day is one of the 12 federal holidays in 2025, and as a result, many institutions that are normally open on Fridays will be closed. However, many commercial enterprises, including some grocery stores, retailers, and pharmacies, will be open. Heres whats open and closed on the 4th of July 2025. Are banks open on the 4th of July 2025? Most bank branches should be closed on Independence Day. This includes major banks like Citi, Chase Bank, and Bank of America. However, although most physical bank branches are closed, online banking should continue to operate as normal, so you can continue to use banking services via the banks website or app. Are ATMs open on the 4th of July 2025? Yes. While most bank branches will be closed today, the ATMs found outside themand ATMs at other locations, including stores and gas stationsshould be functioning as normal. But a word of warning: if you think youll need cash this weekend, its best to go to an ATM sooner rather than later. ATMs are sure to be in high use over the Independence Day holiday weekend, so it’s possible individual machines may run out of cash. Is the post office open on the 4th of July 2025? No, as Independence Day is a federal holiday, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will not be operating regular services today. USPS stores will be closed. Is mail delivered on the 4th of July 2025? No. The USPS will not make deliveries on July 4, 2025. Are FedEx and UPS operating on the 4th of July 2025? Most UPS and FedEx services will not be operating on Independence Dayhowever, there are some exceptions. UPS states that there will be no pickup or delivery service on July 4 and notes that its physical store locations may be closed. However, its UPS Express Criticalservice will still be operating. FedEx says its FedEx, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Logistics services will be closed on July 4. However, it lists its FedEx Office services as having modified hours and says its FedEx Custom Critical service is open. Is the stock market open on the 4th of July 2025? No. Major U.S. stock markets are generally closed on federal holidays, and Independence Day is no exception. This includes the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). However, international stock markets will continue to operate as normal. Are schools open on the 4th of July 2025? Most schools are on summer holiday already. But if a school is operating a summer program, that is likely to be closed today. Are restaurants open on the 4th of July 2025? Many major restaurant chains will be open on Independence Day. However, as many restaurant chains operate on a franchise model, individual locations may be closed or offer modified hours if the owner decides to do so. Major restaurant chains that should see many stores open as usual include McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendys, IHOP, KFC, Subway, and more. Coffee chains like Starbucks and Dunkin will also see many of their locations remaining open. Are retail stores open on the 4th of July 2025? Most will be, but there are some exceptions. Major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy, will be open on Independence Day. Warehouse store Sam’s Club will also be open. However, Costco will be closed on July 4. Are pharmacies open on the 4th of July 2025? It depends. Major retailers who operate pharmaciesincluding CVS and Walgreensshould see many of their stores open today. However, the pharmacies inside those stores may be closed. If you need something from your local pharmacy, its best to call ahead to see if they are open. Are grocery stores open on the 4th of July 2025? Many major grocery store chains will remain open on July 4, as they know there will be plenty of people who have forgotten to pick up important items for the BBQ. Major grocery store chains that will remain open on July 4 include Aldi, Kroger, and Whole Foods, among others. When in doubt, call ahead Of course, before heading anywhere on July 4, it’s best to call ahead to check if your destination is open. This is especially true of any chain stores that operate on a franchise model, where individual owners can set the dates and times the location is open.
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E-Commerce
This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Tally is the best free tool for creating surveys. Theyre better-looking and more flexible than Google Forms, and theyre just as easy to create in 60 seconds. Use it for any kind of survey, whether youre getting feedback from clients or students, collecting RSVPs, or gathering ideas. Get Started: Pick a template or a blank page. Add questions: multiple choice, open text, ranking, or many others. You can ask respondents to upload a file or make a payment. To enhance your design, add text blocks, images, or videos between questions. My 7 favorite Tally features Free. 99% of the features are available without paying. I havent upgraded because the free offering is so complete. Privacy-focused. Based in Belgium, the company complies with Europes strict GDPR rules. Its software respects peoples privacy. Easy. No complicated menus or settings. As this 30-second video demo illustrates, you can just start typing on a blank page and press / to add a question from a list of options. For non-techies its easier than Typeform, Survey Monkey or Qualtrics. Flexible. Works for any kind of form, quiz or survey. Tally is superb for feedback, market research, even selling something, as in these templates: Flexible design. Incorporate video, images or descriptions to create the feel of a readable page thats less bureaucratic than traditional forms. Add a cover image and logo. The forms look great, like Notion pages. Theyre less generically corporate than Microsoft Forms or Google Forms. Easily shareable. Email your survey, share a link to itas I did aboveor embed it within a site. Connect Tally to other tools. Check a box to easily share whatever data your form collects to Google Sheets, Notion, Slack, or Airtable. These simple integrations help you analyze responses easily. Tips on creating great surveys Shortcut: type Tally.new in your browser bar to start a new form, if youre logged in. Aim for 5 to 8 questions. Thats the survey sweet spot requiring just 5 to 10 minutes of a respondents time. Learn from other good surveys. Check examples of others using Tally, a pack of survey templates for growth, and lessons from newsletter surveys cited by Dan Oshinskys excellent Inbox Collective. Incorporate conditional logic, sending people to a question based on a prior answer. I tested that in my new Wonder Tools feedback survey above. That ensures people only see questions relevant to them. Use AI to categorize or summarize text replies. AI can help spot patterns. Thats useful when you have hundreds of responses to analyze. First make a copy of survey data, stripping out names and private info. Prompt Claude or ChatGPT for step by step analysis, not all in one shot. With Gemini AI enabled in Google Sheets, ask for AI analysis of responses saved in a sheet. Templates to try Newsletter feedback Customize this template I made. Event registration Invite people to sign up. Offer programming choices. Spread questions over multiple pages for a clean look. Simple feedback Let anyone provide quick input. Grant proposal Select candidates. Job application Find someone to help you out. 6 steps to implement your survey 1. Pick a template relevant to your project (or start with a blank page).2. Click Use this template.3. Customize the questions.4. Grab the link.5. Share it via email, on social or on a site.6. Return to Tally to see peoples responses. Whats new with Tally Form Insights. See how many people are accessing your form, where theyre coming from, what devices theyre using, how long theyre spending on your form and where theyre dropping off if they dont complete your questions. Version History. If youre experimenting with question wording, you can now roll back to prior versions. Public API beta. Developers can now build new Tally integrations and automations. Limitations Limited visualization options. For charts or detailed visuals, youll need a different tool. No AI summaries or adaptation. Google Forms can now summarize responses for you with AI assistance. Tally doesnt yet have that capability. New tools like Parliant and BetterFeedback can even adapt questions based on prior responses. Typeform AI helps word questions for you. No mid-range subscription. You can use most Tally features for free, but the pro price of $29/monthly is a bg jump for premium features. These include customized confirmation emails, custom domains, and unlimited team collaboration. You can also accept large file uploads (over 10mb) and remove Tally branding. Im fine with the free plan, which includes unlimited forms and question types. Alternatives Tally has published its own comparisons with other tools. But heres my take on other good survey tools to consider the next time youre making a form. Free & Fast: Google Forms works with your existing Google account. Its functional for registration forms or simple feedback surveys, but its features and design have stagnated over the past decade. Elegant and Professional: Typeform presents questions one by one, making it less overwhelming for survey respondents than traditional survey tools. It remains superb for multiple reasons. Its expensive, though, and the advanced features are complex. Flexible and Easy: Notion Forms now lets you embed surveys export data to multiple places. Theyre more flexible than Survey Monkey or Microsoft Forms, which have the stiff design feel of enterprise tools made for mass-market feedback. Premium for Businesses: Jotform is another premium alternative for businesses. You can customize fonts and colors, and integrate a form into your CRM or any database. Or trying make an AI agent. For DIY flexibility: Coda works well both for forms and documents. That helps you organize survey responses within existing docs. For team productivity: Airtable, like Coda, lets you create forms with responses that flow directly into tables. That helps you sort, filter, analyze and share results efficiently. For preference ranking: OpinionX is another specialized survey tool Ive used and recommend for stack rankingsassessing customer preferences. Ask people to compare a series of paired options to help set priorities. Live polling: Slido is what I prefer for quick live polling during events. This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here.
Category:
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