WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has issued $2 billion in advance point-of-sale consumer electric vehicle (EV) tax credit payments since Jan. 1 covering more than 300,000 vehicles, the Treasury said on Tuesday.

Since new rules took effect allowing for consumers to take advantage of EV tax credit worth up to $7,500 at the point of sale, more than 250,000 tax credits have been issued for new EVs and around 50,000 for used models. Nearly all involve transferring the credit to a car dealer at the time of purchase resulting in a significant rebate.