The LPDD team drafted the attached model state statute offering rebates for purchases of battery electric vehicles (“BEVs”) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (“PHEVs”) (collectively “EVs”) with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (“MSRP”) of less than $33,000, provided the BEVs have a range of at least 120 miles and the PHEVs have an electric range of at least 25 miles, in order to encourage middle and lower income people to buy non-luxury EVs. The proposed rebate is calculated at $25 per mile of electric range, up to a maximum of $5,000.
The rebate for EVs with an electric range of 120 miles would be $3,000, and the rebate for EVs with an electric range of 150 miles would be $3750. The $5,000 rebate maximum is intended to encourage manufacturers to increase the EV range to 200 miles without substantially increasing their EVs’ MSRP over the next decade.
PHEVs generally have an electric range of 25-30 miles. Thus, the likely rebate for a PHEV would be $750 to $900. While the rebate for pure EVs is provided for ten years, the rebate for PHEVs is provided for only two years. The shorter period of the PHEV rebate is consistent with the intent of reducing greenhouse gas emissions more thoroughly with electric transportation.
This proposed statute is based on New Jersey’s 2020 “Light Duty Plug-in Electric Vehicle Rebate Project” legislation. However it differs significantly from the New Jersey statute in providing that eligible vehicles shall cost less than $33,000, instead of $55,000. This limitation is intended to preserve the limited funding for those less expensive EVs that middle and lower income people might afford with financial assistance.