A recent decision by the CARB Board may affect your EV buying decision (at least a little...) A previous restriction existed of 2 EVs per person per year would be eligible for the $2,500 or $1,500 rebate was modified to 2 EVs per person per lifetime. There is NO grandfather clause. If you have already purchased or leased 2 EVs and received the California credit of $2,500 or $1,500, (or in some cases $5,000) you are no longer eligible for an incentive on your next EV purchase or lease. Your spouse or significant other, if you have one, is still eligible as this restriction is per person not per household.
This more significantly hits leasors who turn over EVs more quickly than purchasers.
Why is this restriction in place, you ask? You are going to ask right?
It's partially due to the success of the program. Buyers are ramping up faster than the funding, and they have to start some trimming of the program. Note that some of the alternate proposals which were rejected were to cut the incentive by $500 or cap the eligible EVs to 50K MSRP. CARB thought is that people preparing to buy their third PEV are already true believers in PEVs and CARB would rather direct their funds to people on the fence and thinking about buying a PEV for the first time (or second time).
First question: What's the start date? It was supposed to start July 1st. I have questioned that pointing out there is no documentation on the web site about the change and this could be a serious impact. Example: A person leasing an EV with a drive off of $2500 expecting that the CA incentive will reimburse them for it. Suddenly after they have the car for a month, their application gets rejected because of the rule change, and the $2500 they counted on disappears. It's not easy for many people leasing to cover a surprise $2,500 expense. CARB is still determining is the start date is actually July 1st or not.... I know this impacts more than a couple people as more than 4000 EVs are sold per month in CA.
Second question: The lifetime limit is 2 inventives per person. How is the person determined? The name(s) on the vehicle title or on the CCSE form? If two people were named on either of the documents, is each charged .5 uses or the first is selected or ...? Lifetime limit is a bit more complex as marriages come and go (not ours dear!) so who gets counted for the restriction? Second question on dates would be "How many CA EV incentives have you received?" You can tell I haven't dated in decades....
Lastly, the two rebate per lifetime language is located on page 39 of this document: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aqip/fundplan/fy1415_funding_plan_aqip_ggrf_final.pdf
They say the devil is in the details. I'll report back when I get some answers (unless I'm in the Yukon...)
This more significantly hits leasors who turn over EVs more quickly than purchasers.
Why is this restriction in place, you ask? You are going to ask right?
It's partially due to the success of the program. Buyers are ramping up faster than the funding, and they have to start some trimming of the program. Note that some of the alternate proposals which were rejected were to cut the incentive by $500 or cap the eligible EVs to 50K MSRP. CARB thought is that people preparing to buy their third PEV are already true believers in PEVs and CARB would rather direct their funds to people on the fence and thinking about buying a PEV for the first time (or second time).
First question: What's the start date? It was supposed to start July 1st. I have questioned that pointing out there is no documentation on the web site about the change and this could be a serious impact. Example: A person leasing an EV with a drive off of $2500 expecting that the CA incentive will reimburse them for it. Suddenly after they have the car for a month, their application gets rejected because of the rule change, and the $2500 they counted on disappears. It's not easy for many people leasing to cover a surprise $2,500 expense. CARB is still determining is the start date is actually July 1st or not.... I know this impacts more than a couple people as more than 4000 EVs are sold per month in CA.
Second question: The lifetime limit is 2 inventives per person. How is the person determined? The name(s) on the vehicle title or on the CCSE form? If two people were named on either of the documents, is each charged .5 uses or the first is selected or ...? Lifetime limit is a bit more complex as marriages come and go (not ours dear!) so who gets counted for the restriction? Second question on dates would be "How many CA EV incentives have you received?" You can tell I haven't dated in decades....
Lastly, the two rebate per lifetime language is located on page 39 of this document: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aqip/fundplan/fy1415_funding_plan_aqip_ggrf_final.pdf
They say the devil is in the details. I'll report back when I get some answers (unless I'm in the Yukon...)
