California EV incentives, tax credits and rebates

Current EV incentives in California

While there’s currently a shortage of EV incentives at the state level, California residents looking to purchase an EV may still benefit from the federal EV tax credit, as well as a cash rebate from their local utility provider.

The same goes for installing Level 2 charger equipment at your California residence. As of publishing, numerous California-based home energy providers like Southern California Edison and Silicon Valley Power are offering cash rebates on home charger installs, typically in the range of $300 to $1,200. Combine that with the 30% federal tax credit and you may be able to install a Level 2 charger for well under $1,000.

Electric vehicle purchase incentives in California

Even though the California Clean Fuel Reward has been suspended indefinitely, California residents can still benefit from EV purchase incentives at the federal level. They may also get a decently-sized rebate from their local utility provider ($500 to $1,500) in certain areas.

Let’s start at the federal level and then zoom in to the state and provider levels from there.

The Federal EV Tax Credit offers a tax credit of up to $7,500 on a new EV purchase up to $80,000 and a tax credit of up to $4,000 on a pre-owned EV purchase up to $25,000. The income limits for new and used are $150,000 and $75,000, respectively, though the limit rises for heads of households or married/filing jointly.

For more details and a list of vehicles that qualify for full or partial credit, check out our full feature on how the EV tax credit works.

Beyond the hearty federal incentive, you may find an additional rebate through your local utility provider. There are two quick ways to check:

• Google “[your home energy provider] EV incentives” and see if a dedicated page for EV-friendly rebates appears in the search results.
• Visit DriveCleanCA.gov > Search Incentives and enter your ZIP code to see local incentives for both EV purchases and Level 2 home charger installs.

Here’s a list of state, provider and federal benefits that we could find, just to give you some idea of the types of rebates out there for California residents looking to go green. In general, California home energy providers seem to favor rebates for pre-owned EVs over new ones, so keep that in mind as you shop around.

Now that we’ve covered EV purchase incentives for California residents, let’s have a look at what sort of discounts and rebates are out there for installing a Level 2 charger at home.

» LEARN: What are tax credits?

EV charging equipment incentives in California

EV charging incentives are a similar story to EV purchase incentives in California — the state currently has little to offer, but credits from the federal government and rebates from your local utility provider may help to shrink the bill significantly.

Here’s a quick recap of the federal-level incentive for installing a residential charger: The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit provides a tax credit of 30% of the cost of installing a home EV charger, with a maximum credit of $1,000.

According to J.D. Power, the national average cost to install a Level 2 charger is around $1,200 to $2,500, which means the federal incentive alone can put a nice $360 to $750 dent in your budget.

After that, your final out-of-pocket costs could shrink even further thanks to numerous rebates from local utility providers. Here are some examples we found on the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE), but you may find more that are local/specific to you by searching the DriveCleanCA Incentives Database for your ZIP code.

Needless to say, there’s a decent chance you’ll be able to secure both a tax incentive and a local rebate on your Level 2 charger installation. Just keep in mind that most rebates require you to submit your request within 90 or 120 days from the date of the installation, so you may want to mark your calendar.

How much can EV incentives save you in California?

Since most of the EV purchase rebates we could find are exclusively for pre-owned EV purchases, you may not save as much as you might think on a brand-new EV. There’s still the federal incentive providing up to $7,500 off in the form of a year-end tax credit, but if you’re looking for the “sweet spot” in terms of incentives, you’re looking at a pre-owned EV under $25,000.

That puts you well into pricing territory for a used Tesla Model 3, Nissan LEAF or Chevy Bolt EV, which can all be purchased with a $4,000 federal tax credit and a further $500 to $1,500 rebate from select utility providers.

Speaking of utilities, if you manage to snag both the federal tax credit and a rebate from your home energy provider, you may be able to install a Level 2 charger at home for well under $1,000. Combine that with a solar panel installation and you could reduce the cost of owning a Tesla to almost nothing but tires and taxes.

Example savings with California EV incentives