rebates

  • Golden Gate Bridge, connecting San Francisco and Marin County, California

    California has been a world pioneer for decades in reducing vehicle emissions, including its 20-year effort to get significant numbers of zero-emission vehicles on the roads. It's also had intermittent programs to encourage the trade-in of older cars that qualify as "gross emitters" for newer and cleaner vehicles. Now, a bill that seems set to pass this month will pair the two programs for the first time and establish a steady source of funding for its clean-vehicle purchase rebate program. Focus on low-income drivers Among the provisions of the Charge Ahead California Initiative, or Senate...

  • Tesla Store Los Angeles [photo: Misha Bruk / MBH Architects]
    Income Cap Coming For CA Electric-Car Rebate, Tesla Most Vulnerable?

    California may put an income cap on its electric-car tax rebate.

  • Green vehicles parked across from Honda Smart Home at UC-Davis, California
    California Puts Its Electric-Car Owner Survey Info Online

    California surveyed applicants for the state electric-car incentive program, and will put the results online.

  • Austin, Texas (by Flickr user milpool79 via Wikimedia)
    Texas Electric-Car Purchase Rebates Up To $2,500 To Start Soon

    Texas plans to offer rebates to buyers of new electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and natural-gas vehicles.

  • 2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013
    2014 BMW i3 Range-Extended Model Gets Full $2,500 CA Rebate For Electric Cars

    It's clearly the week for news about the new and distinctive 2014 BMW i3 electric car. Yesterday, as the first cars arrived at dealers, we learned that it was rated at 81 miles of range (less than a 2014 Nissan Leaf's 84 miles), but operates at an unparalleled efficiency of 124 MPGe. Then, late...

  • 2014 Nissan Leaf
    MD Boosts Electric-Car Tax Credit, CA Adds Funds To Rebate Program

    California and Maryland put more money into electric-car incentives.

  • China

    Over the last few years, China has experienced some of the highest city pollution concentrations anywhere on earth--with concentrations of pollutants climbing far past dangerous levels on official scales. Roughly a quarter of that is due to heavy traffic, and it's prompted legislation to clean up the country's streets by any means possible. Electric cars are one suggestion, but so far sales have struggled--and that doesn't look likely to change any time soon, according to writer Alysha Webb, who follows electric-car activities in China. Like many other countries around the world, one of...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid - production model
    CA Electric-Car Incentive Update: Funds Run Out, Green Stickers Gone

    Access to carpool lanes on California's legendarily crowded freeways is a big perk. So is getting a check in the mail that cuts the purchase cost. These incentives were successful in spurring sales of hybrids years ago, and they've helped sales of modern battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars...

  • Sierra Club Electric Vehicle Guide - main screen
    Electric-Car Guide, State-By-State Specifics From Sierra Club

    What's your first resource for electric-car information? We're hoping you answer Green Car Reports (of course!), but in reality there are quite a few by now. Today, the conservation group Sierra Club has launched its own Electric Vehicle Guide--and one of its key features is the ability to learn...

  • 2013 Nissan Leaf (Japanese trim)
    Home Depot To Refund Taxes To Electric-Car Charging Station Buyers

    Many states offer discounts, rebates, and other incentives for the purchase of infrastructure improvements that encourage electric-car ownership. Washington is one such state, providing tax breaks on charging stations and similar EV-related devices. Unfortunately, Home Depot sales associates...

  • 2012 Nissan Leaf 4-door HB SL Headlight
    Californians: Here Are Your Clean Vehicle Choices!

    Few states in the U.S. can match California’s generosity when it comes to clean vehicle rebate programs. In fact, back in September, the California Air Resources Board and the Environmental Protection Agency awarded the state’s 10,000th Clean Vehicle Rebate to a Nissan Leaf owner from...

  • Barack Obama
    Obama: Add Rebates On Natural-Gas Cars, Oil Is 'Fuel Of Past'

    Continuing his efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil, President Barack Obama yesterday proposed expanding tax credits now offered to buyers of plug-in cars to those who buy natural-gas vehicles as well. Given the ugly politics around electric cars and the presidential election season...

  • 2012 Chevrolet Volt

    A few weeks ago, we told you that all new 2012 Chevrolet Volts manufactured after February 8 and destined for Californian dealers will feature a redesigned exhaust system that will enable them to qualify as Enhanced Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emissions Vehicles (e-AT-PZEVs). As a consequence, Californian owners of new 2012 Chevy Volts will be eligible to apply for a yellow green bumper sticker for their car which will give them unlimited access to the state’s High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, regardless of how many passengers are in the vehicle. But there’s more: The...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    Tennessee's Electric Car Rebate Fund Still Healthy

    If you live in Tennessee and you're holding out for more electric cars to hit the market, then you could be in luck. So far, only buyers of the Nissan Leaf have been benefitting from the $2,500 electric car rebate, with no other electric vehicles to choose from. The Tennessean reveals that, of the...

  • BYD e6 at 2011 Geneva Motor Show, photo by Robert Llewellyn
    BYD To California: You Don't Have Enough Electric Car Charging Stations

    Over the years, we’ve heard lots of excuses from electric car companies as to why they’ve had to delay the launch of a car. Ranging from delays in the part supply through to last-minute improvements and modifications to comply with new regulations, we think we’ve heard them all...

  • 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid
    Want A Rebate With That Hybrid? Get It While You Can

    If you're relying on state tax breaks to get you behind the wheel of a brand new hybrid, we have one piece of advice: Do it soon. Several states have already cut their rebate schemes and a bunch more are about to follow down the same path, which is soon to make hybrid vehicles a more expensive...

  • Stealth Night Hawk Hunting ATV
    Hey, Sarah Palin, Electric Cars Make Hunting Easier

    Electric car owners aren’t necessarily known for their love of hunting -- and those who hunt aren’t usually known for their love of electric cars either. After all, gun-toting, gas-guzzling, Russia-spying, former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin loves to hunt -- and her motto of...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee
    Breathe Easy, Californians: Electric-Car Rebates Survive, Cut To $2,500

    It came down to the wire, but in the end, California's program of purchase rebates for buyers of qualifying plug-in electric cars has survived the state's grim budget crisis. Last Thursday, we wrote about the decisions facing the California Air Resources Board: How much could it really afford to...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee

    As we reported back in December last year and again last month, California’s $4.1 million Clean Vehicle Rebate Project has now run out of money. If you’re one of the early adopters who has been lucky enough to buy a 2011 Nissan Leaf, or 2011 Tesla Roadster in the state since 2010 you should already have had a $5,000 rebate check through the mail to go with your $7,500 federal tax credit. But for those who haven’t yet purchased an electric car or are one of the unlucky 500 who purchased a car as the funds were running out, today is the day you find out if you will get that...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee
    Warning: Californian Electric Car Rebates Running Out of Charge

    The California Air Resources Board (CARB) - the state department charged with reducing air pollution and improving the quality of air that Californians breathe - has announced that the California state electric vehicle rebate program will soon run out of money, meaning that electric car buyers may...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf at quick-charging station
    Obama Seeking Rebates Instead Of Tax Credits For Electric Car Buyers

    Currently, buyers of electric cars receive a $7,500 tax credit that they can only realize once they file their taxes, often up to a year after they actually make their purchase. Without a doubt, this has limited the effectiveness of the incentive so it’s not surprising to hear there are many...

  • cash
    Senator Stabenow: $7,500 Electric-Car Credit Should Be Rebate

    It's long been known that purchase rebates--buy a car, get a check--are a more effective incentive for purchase of any kind of car than an income-tax credit, which may take a year or more to affect the buyer's cash position. But the current tax credits for purchase of plug-in cars, up to $7,500 for...

  • First 2011 Nissan Leaf delivered to buyer, San Francisco, Dec 2010, photo by Eugene Lee
    CA Electric Car Rebate Will Run Out Mid 2011, Advocate Warns

    California has always been kind to drivers of alternative fuelled vehicles with special privileges in High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes, reduced parking and even additional purchase tax credits. However, the $5,000 Californian state rebate for those purchasing electric vehicles may soon run out...

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf
    How To Pay Just $12,280 For A Brand-New 2011 Nissan Leaf Electric Car

    All the different incentives to purchase electric cars can be confusing. But if all the stars align and you're the lucky person who can take advantage of multiple incentives, there’s a slim chance that you could buy a brand-new 2011 Nissan Leaf for a mere $12,300. Here’s how it works...

News First Drives Electric Cars Hybrids Guides Green Life