Oregon Legislature Passes Electric Vehicle Purchase Incentives Package

As part of a new $5.3 billion transportation funding package passed by the Oregon Senate and House, Oregon will finally be instituting a plug-in electric vehicle purchase rebate program.

The new program will provide those purchasing a plug-in electric vehicle with a battery pack capacity larger than 10 kilowatt-hours (kWh) with a $2,500 rebate. Those purchasing an electric vehicle with a battery pack capacity of less than 10 kWh will have access to a $1,500 rebate.

The rebate program will be funded to the tune of $12 million a year for 6 successive years, and will only apply to vehicles whose base price is under $50,000.

In addition to those rebates, the new funding package includes a “Charge Ahead” fund that provides up to $2,500 to low- and moderate-income drivers who are scrapping and replacing a vehicle that is at least 20 years old with an electric one.

The two rebate programs can be combined to provide a total rebate of up to $5,000.

Green Car Reports provides more: “Rebates have also been authorized for low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles and for electric motorcycles, starting in 2019. … The transportation funding package, HB 2017, phases in additional fees for registering and titling electric cars, although they don’t take effect until 2020, when more plug-in vehicles will be found on the state’s roads.

“Those fees will total approximately $110 a year, roughly in line with other states that have added fees on fully and partially battery-operated vehicles to make up for the gasoline taxes they don’t pay.”

Alongside these changes, the funding package includes $100 million a year for mass transit.

Notably, Forth (previously Drive Oregon) was involved in lobbying for the new rebates.

Images via Forth