Exploring Electric Car Subsidies & Incentives Across The US
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Originally published on EV Obsession.
Plug In America has a great electric car subsidies and incentives resource on its website, but I figure a lot of people are not aware of it. It’s actually a map, and as you hover over each state, you can see a summary of financial subsidies and other incentives offered in that state. It’s definitely worth a look and a share.
To make this more than a one-paragraph article, here are some of the states with the best and most interesting incentives:
Colorado
- Up to a 75% tax credit on the cost premium of a fully electric cars (BEVs) or plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), with a max credit of $6,000.
- Sales tax exemption
California
- Up to $2,500 rebate for BEVs, $1,500 for PHEVs, and $900 for electric motorcycles and neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs).
- Generally, special EV rates from electric utilities.
- Carpool lane access for BEVs. (Previously, for PHEVs as well, but the cap for them has been reached. However, that incentive may come back for new PHEVs.)
Washington
- BEVs exempt from state’s 6.5% sales tax.
- PHEVs exempt from state’s 0.3% motor vehicle sales tax.
- Charging station parts and labor costs also exempt from state sales tax.
Utah
- 35% tax credit on price of an EV, up to $1,500 for a BEV and $1,000 for a PHEV.
- Tax credit up to 50% of cost or $2,500 for an EV conversion.
- HOV lane access.
Illinois
- Rebate for 80% of the cost premium of buying an EV or converting a car to an EV, up to $4,000.
Massachusetts
- $2,500 rebates for purchasing or leasing an electric car or electric motorcycle.
Delaware
- $2,200 rebates for purchasing, leasing, or converting to an electric car.
- Up to $500 rebate for purchasing an EVSE.
Maryland
- Up to $3,000 income tax credit ($125/kWh of battery capacity).
- Up to $900 rebate for purchase and installation of EVSE (50% of cost).
- HOV access.
Tennessee
- $2,500 rebates for purchasing or leasing a fully electric car, $1,500 for a PHEV.
- Up to $500 rebate for purchasing an EVSE.
South Carolina
- Up to $2,000 rebates for PHEVs.
Florida (since it’s my home state)
- Carpool lane access in places for BEVs.
- Exemption from most insurance surcharges.
North Carolina (since it’s my main after-college home state)
- HOV lane access.
- Emissions inspection exemption. (Woohoo!)
Related:
EV Incentives EV Enthusiasts Think Are Most Enticing
EV Incentives Effective, Especially When Diverse
Norway EV Owner Survey — 10 Key Findings (+ Charts)
Electric Car Incentives & Market Uptake By Country
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Just to compare:
Chinese EV makers produced more than 320% more EV’s in 2015 than in 2014. EV incentives are widespread and include rebates and exemptions from sales taxes and some fees. They offer as much as $16,119.7 off a single car and > $81,000 for an electric bus. Total rebates range from 20-40% of purchase price.
Unfortunately WA legislature limited the cost of EV that could be exempt from sales tax to $35,000, which would put Nissan Leaf, except for the base model unable to get the sales tax exemption.
I find West Virginia the most interesting! I wonder how many residents are aware of it, or even aware of EVs considering this is coal country.
AZ, but only for BEVs, reduced state registration fees and no vehicle emission inspections. I registered my BEV BMW i3 for five years total cost $65! No discounts for the i3 Rex.
Zach
Are you aware of any political discussions around the topic of extending the federal rebate for EVs?
It seems silly and arbitrary to have it taper off after 200,000 US sales per manufacturer. If the objective of the administration is really to encourage energy independence and a sustainable economy, then that limit seems absurdly low.
The irony of the situation is that the rebate is likely to disappear for Tesla buyers just as the first Model 3s are hitting the market. That is just tragically wrong, and reveals the inherent flaw in the way that the system was set up.
It doesn’t affect me directly, of course, because I’m on the other side of the world. But I’d like to see the transformation of transport happen as quickly as possible. For that to happen, one would probably need to see the Model 3 succeed, which is most likely to happen if it can cmpete on an even footing with whatever else is out there. It’s gong to be hard enough right now making a long range EV for under $35k. To try to make a profit at under $30k (the effective price of the Volt, etc) is likely to be impossible.
What a weird irony it would be if the federal rebate system actually “killed the electric car”. If Tesla disappeared, do you think the majors would still devote any attention and resources to compelling electric vehicles?
Tesla’s expecting the rebate to go away and is planning based on it.
At this point I don’t think it’s worth fighting for a rebate extension. We have more important priorities and I don’t want the industry to get hooked on rebates.
Here’s a thought: battery-electric buses are now eminently superior to diesel or gas buses, *and* have slightly lower total cost of ownership. Almost all buses are purchased by cities, counties, school districts, or other government agencies — and most of them are purchased using federal grants.
How about a federal policy that they will *only* provide federal assistance for electric buses, not for fuel buses? I think it would accelerate the shift, very fast.
In New York the only highways with HOV lanes are on Long Island, so the HOV lane access is not very useful — and that’s the only incentive. We basically don’t have any incentives for people living upstate, or even people living in NYC who don’t go to Long Island.