New York State governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced this week that more than $12 million will be added to the state’s Drive Clean Rebate program, which helps consumers save up to $2,000 on the purchase of an electric vehicle.
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New York State’s EV rebate
The Drive Clean Rebate, which is open to all New York residents, offers electric car buyers a point-of-sale rebate of up to $2,000 for new electric car purchases or leases. Combine that with a federal tax credit of up to $7,500, and it’s a tidy incentive. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority explains:
Taking advantage of the Drive Clean Rebate is very easy: Simply purchase a qualifying electric car from a participating dealer, and a discount of up to $2,000 will be applied when you pay. Combine that with a federal tax credit of up to $7,500, and it’s an opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss.
The rebate that the car buyer gets on the new electric car depends on how much battery-only range the car has:
- Greater than 200 miles: $2,000 off
- 40 to 199 miles: $1,000 off
- Less than 40 miles: $500 off
- Electric cars with MSRP >$42,000: $500 off
New York provides a list of cars (and their base MSRPs) that qualify for rebates, and notes how much of a rebate each car gets. The cars that currently qualify for the full $2,000 are:
- Volkswagen ID.4
- Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus
- Nissan Leaf 62 kWh
- Kia Niro Electric
- Hyundai Kona Electric
- Chevrolet Bolt EUV
- Chevrolet Bolt
Hochul also announced that $2.7 million is being awarded to local New York State governments to purchase electric vehicles and install zero-emission charging/fueling stations. It’s being funded by the State’s Environmental Protection Fund and administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation:
The 49 awards to 20 municipalities total nearly $2.5 million to help fund the installation of 200 additional Level 2 charging ports, six additional direct current fast charge (DCFC) pedestals, and two hydrogen fueling nozzles.
Additionally, 10 awards totaling $215,000 were provided to nine municipalities to support the purchase of 32 all-battery electric vehicles for municipal fleet use.
Electrek’s Take
New York doesn’t have the biggest rebate in the US – the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate offers incentives of up to $9,500 for Connecticut residents, for example – but it’s still money that stays in the EV buyer’s pocket (writes the person who leased a Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus in Florida, which offers no EV rebates).
In February, researchers are expected to officially release new analysis that shows 2022 is the first year in which all-electric vehicles have become more affordable than the most popular gas-powered vehicles. The analysis includes the purchase price of each vehicle, not just driving costs.
For example, researchers found that the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning is more affordable than a gas-powered F-150, and the 2022 Volkswagen ID.4 is more affordable than a 2022 gas-powered Honda CRV.
Now if we could actually get our hands on a Ford F-150 Lightning, that would be great.
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