The Expert Podcast

The state of California is one of the most aggressive when it comes to promoting the use and sale of electric vehicles. Their EV rebate program is one of the most generous in the country, and this is on top of the federal electric vehicle rebates that are out there. And it’s working, right? The sales of zero-emission vehicles, mostly electric vehicles, are up 19%, which is a pretty big jump. The problem is that success is also creating a problem where their rebate program is running out of money.

In California, they budgeted for a certain amount of rebate money to be paid to consumers to buy electric vehicles, and that money is quickly drying up. Their rebate program doesn’t have enough money in it to pay for the projected sales for years going forward. So, how’s this going to work out? Are they going to put more money in the program? Are they going to reduce the amount? Are they going to cut it off after a certain point? There was a period of time where, when rebate money ran out, after that, you didn’t get a rebate. So, if you're the consumer that bought the last vehicle that qualifies for an EV, the person right behind you who buys an electric vehicle won’t get a rebate. That’s one way of dealing with it.

So, have you received a rebate from the state of California for an electric vehicle? There are certain forms you have to fill out to get that rebate. Here’s how that process works. This is directly from the California Air Resources Board, and this is their document where they report the impact of the clean rebate project. If you scroll down to the first paragraph, the executive summary explains that the program has a rebate process based on a first-come, first-serve basis. So, consumer rebates are given on a first-come, first-serve basis. That’s what it means if they run out of money—people coming in after that won’t get a rebate.

The first thing they have is a list of eligible vehicles. They go through a long list, including hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and then there’s battery electric vehicles like Audi, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes, and more. Most of these vehicles get a $2,000 rebate. The plug-in vehicles are a little less—they get a $1,000 rebate. Motorcycles get a little less as well, but if you notice at the very top of the page, these zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell vehicles get $4,500. You’re only really going to find that in California, though, because there aren’t really places to refuel these vehicles other than California.

But the big question is, what happens when the money runs out? It’s unknown yet whether they will refund this and put more money in. But electric vehicles and zero-emission vehicles are important to the California transformation away from gasoline vehicles. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not they continue that support with more rebate money, and if they apply the rebate to used electric vehicles as well as new ones.