State offer would boost electric vehicles Dollar incentives for middle, low-income Vermonters

The State of Vermont this week launched an incentive program for the purchase or lease of new plug-in electric vehicles — or PEVs — which include all-electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, with a total of $1.1 million in funding to help Vermonters go electric.

The incentives are available to:

• individuals with an annual household income of $92,000 or less applying for a new PEV with a base price of $40,000 or less. More than 20 PEV models are eligible with $1,500 incentives for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and $2,500 incentives for all-electric vehicles.
• individuals whose households qualify for Vermont’s Weatherization Program. $4,000 for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and $5,000 for all-electric vehicles are available.

The statewide incentive may be used in combination with additional PEV incentives offered by the state’s electric utilities and federal tax credits for greater savings. This incentive program was proposed by Gov. Phil Scott and authorized by 2019 legislation intended to move Vermont toward its goal of at least 50,000 electric vehicles on its roads by 2025.

“We know the transportation sector accounts for about 45 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Scott. “These incentives will help get more Vermonters in electric vehicles and help us move forward on our clean transportation and energy goals.”

Vermont’s Comprehensive Energy Plan established a goal to increase the share of renewable energy in the state’s transportation sector to 10 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050. This translates to 50,000 to 60,000 PEVs registered in Vermont in five years. Currently, there are about 3,300 PEVs registered in Vermont.

The Agency of Transportation, through Drive Electric Vermont, is working with electric utilities, car dealers and Vermont Energy Investment Corp. to administer the program.

The new program allows eligible customers to receive the incentive directly from a participating car dealer in the form of a reduced purchase or lease price or receive a direct cash reimbursement from the electric utility that serves their household.

The state is working to secure participation from auto dealers statewide who carry qualifying models.

Non-utility customers are eligible to participate in the program. Incentives are limited to one per household and to Vermont residents. Incentives are not available retroactively for purchases or leases made prior to the program launch.

For more information, including eligible models, application forms and a current list of participating auto dealerships, visit the Drive Electric website by clicking here.