CA, MD Extend EV/PHEV Credit Programs, Federal Credit Increase May Follow

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

EV and PHEV owners in California and Maryland will be able to enjoy credits for the foreseeable future for going green, while one representative in Congress wants to up federal tax credits to $10,000.

Autoblog Green reports the success of the California Air Resources Board’s credit program has resulted in a funding expansion of $25 million through the end of the state’s fiscal year in late June. Those seeking rebates on their EV or plug-in purchases will be put on a list, and should receive either their $2,500 EV or $1,500 PHEV credit by the end of September.

Over in Maryland, a provisional bill awaiting Governor Martin O’Malley’s signature will extend the state’s credit program for three years through the end of June 2017. In addition, the maximum credit offered will be increased to $3,000 from $1,000 for PHEV owners.

Finally, U.S. Representative Peter Welch of Vermont is preparing to propose legislation that would boost the federal tax credit from $7,500 to $10,000, which he believes will also make owning an EV more affordable to middle-income consumers. Welch will introduce the legislation upon return to Congress.

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • KixStart KixStart on May 05, 2014

    It's already more than double what was offered for hybrids from 2006-2010 and it's not moving anywhere near the same number of cars. What's needed isn't a bigger tax credit, what's needed is a better car.

    • VoGo VoGo on May 05, 2014

      Good point, KixStart. And if automakers see that subsidies for EV/PHEV are large and sustained, they will see it as a more profitable market, meaning they will pour more R&D into AV/PHEV, leading to better cars.

  • Freddie Freddie on May 05, 2014

    Keeping turning the crank on the "green jobs" perpetual motion machine. The government subsidizes the development of products that no one really wants to buy -- unless they are bribed with still more subsidies.

  • DC Bruce DC Bruce on May 05, 2014

    Just one more effort by O'Malley to turn Maryland into the "California of the East." Actually, a lot of Maryland is supplied by Baltimore Gas and Electric, which runs a nuke plant on the Cheaspeake Bay, a few miles north of the CNG terminal which was built in 1980 to import CNG and that folks now want to convert into an expert terminal. When I lived in the Maryland suburbs in the early 1990s, big residential users (I was one) were put on time-of-day pricing, so that's nothing new. But, isn't it the case that these subsidies -- although nominally to the purchasers of EVs -- are really to folks who sell them? After all, if the net price of an EV to the first purchaser is reduced by, say, $3,000, doesn't that knock the resale price down by an equal amount, since the second purchaser doesn't get the credit? So, it's just another subsidy to Nissan, or Ford or Tesla or whomever builds these things, dressed up to look like a "consumer benefit."

  • Zip89123 Zip89123 on May 05, 2014

    This is why CA is effed up. CA is giving away taxpayer dollars to fund someone's bad choice in automobiles.

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