California Center for Sustainable Energy

Charge Up L.A- Providing LADWP Customers Rebates for EV Charging Stations

On April 20, 2011 the LADWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved the Electric Vehicle Home Charger Rebate Program -- Charge Up L.A -- to ease the financial burden for residents who want to install a rapid (Level 2) charger at their home for qualifying electric vehicles. LADWP's goal is for the pilot program to provide rebates for 3,000 to 5,000 EV home chargers.

The rebate program is part of an overall strategy by the City to ensure that Los Angeles is EV ready. At the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, the Mayor also announced a program to help residential customers within the City of Los Angeles go from permit to plug in for home electric vehicle chargers under 7 days, provided the customer's electrical system can support the charging requirements.

CCSE will provide more information about this exciting new program as it develops.

Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebate Program

The Corona City Council has approved a new program that would rebate Corona residents $2,000 for the purchase of a new qualified alternative fuel vehicle or $1,000 for a qualified used vehicle while funds last.

Vehicles must be powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric/battery (EV) or a non-diesel hybrid and meet emission standards set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Rebates are only available to licensed drivers living in the City of Corona. Vehicles must be purchased from an auto dealership authorized to do business within the City of Corona.

Vehicle Eligibility
To qualify, a vehicle must be fueled exclusively with CNG or electricity, or be a non-diesel hybrid. Neighborhood EVs (NEVs) do not qualify. All vehicles must be clearly identified by make, model and VIN number.

To qualify, vehicles must have current emissions certification standard as defined by CARB of at least:

• Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (SULEV) standard- for passenger and light duty (weighing up to 8,500 lbs.) CNG, electric and non-diesel hybrid vehicles and medium duty (weighing 8,501 - 14,000 lbs) CNG and electric vehicles. These vehicles can be identified on DriveClean.ca.gov as having a Smog Score of 8 or higher.
• Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) Standard - for medium duty non-diesel hybrids

The EV Project is a $230 million program funded with combined investment from the Department of Energy ($115 million) and ECOtality ($115 million).  This robust investment in electric vehicle charging is the largest deployment of both electric drive vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure ever undertaken.  Over the course of 2011 ECOtaltiy will install more than 15,000 chargers in 17 select cities across the United States.  Additionally, the DOE and ECOtality has partnered with Chevrolet and Nissan to bring approximately 5,700 Nissan LEAF zero emissions electric vehicles and 2,600 Chevrolet Volt electric vehicles with extended-range capability to EV Project cities.

On January 27, 2011, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced the winning bids for their EVSE Charging Deployment Incentives Project.  Four companies were awarded contracts for the EVSE Home Charging Rebate Program, including ECOtality, Coulomb Technology, AeroVironment and Clipper Creek.  ECOtality and Aerovironment were awarded contracts for the DC Fast Charger Deployment Program and the Program Coordination component was won by ECOtality.  While the majority of the funding under this program went to ECOtality, Bay Area residents do have choices.  For a summary of this program see below.  Keep updated on the status of this program by clicking on the following link: www.BAAQMD.gov/EVready

The Remove II Program provides incentives between $1,000 and $3,000 for the purchase of low emissions passenger vehicles for residents located in the following counties: San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and the San Joaquin Valley portion of Kern.

The program will provide a rebate to City of Riverside residents who purchase a qualified alternative fuel or hybrid vehicle. The program provides $2,000 toward the purchase of a new qualified vehicle with original manufacturer’s alternative fuel equipment (vehicles with conversions will not qualify).   In order to qualify for the rebate a vehicle must be purchased from a City of Riverside automobile dealership authorized to do business within the City.

For equipment placed into service between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010, the following tax credits apply:

• Commercial Tax Credit-  up to 50% of the cost of equipment and installation not to exceed $50,000.
• Residential Tax Credit-   up to 50% of the cost of equipment and installation not to exceed $2,000.

Federal Tax credits for ZEV and PHEV range from between $2,500 to $7,500, with factors such as battery capacity determining how much owners are eligible to receive.

White Clean Air Vehicle Stickers are available to an unlimited number of qualifying Federal Inherently Low Emission Vehicles (ILEVs). Cars that meet these requirements are typically certified pure zero emission vehicles (100% battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell) and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. Assembly Bill 1500 extended the expiration of white stickers to January 1, 2015.

To get your White Clean Air Vehicle Stickers send a completed application (link below) and the required $8 processing fee to:

HOV Sticker Application