California offers additional $14,000 in low-income EV incentives

Low-income residents of California can take advantage of the DCAP when they purchase or lease a new or used clean vehicle. CARB says DCAP’s coverage includes pure battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

To participate in the DCAP, consumers need to be at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. This means an income of $93,600 or lower for a family of four, but the figure will change annually. Another requirement they need to meet for eligibility is that they should not have taken advantage of any light-duty vehicle purchase incentive program from CARB previously.

Low-income Californian residents with a ‘Disadvantaged Community (DAC)’ status can get a grant of up to $7,500 for the purchase or lease of their new or used clean vehicle under the DCAP. If they scrap their older vehicle, this grant goes up from $7,500 to $12,000. Consumers without the disadvantaged community status who scrap their older vehicle to buy or lease a new or used clean vehicle can get a grant of up to $10,000.

In addition to the grant on purchase or lease, the DCAP includes a complimentary $2,000 charging card. Alternatively, consumers can get a reimbursement of up to $2,000 towards the installation of home charging infrastructure. Lastly, the DCAP offers consumers low-interest rate loans as well, with the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) capped at 8%.

California is one of America’s most progressive states when it comes to adopting clean vehicles. According to CARB, the state accounts for 34% of the country’s clean vehicle sales. In the first quarter of 2024, clean vehicles contributed to 23.9% or 102,507 units of new car sales in California, which stood at 429,225 units. 85,975 of these clean vehicles were BEVs, 16,335 were PHEVs, and 197 were FCEVs.

There are more than 10,000 fast EV chargers in California, which gives BEV and PHEV users in the state convenience and peace of mind. The state’s cumulative clean vehicle sales are nearing two million units. Currently, they stand at 1,872,429 units and comprise 1,362,066 BEVs, 492,594 PHEVs, and 17,769 FCEVs. California will ban the sale of all polluting cars and light trucks and only allow zero-emission vehicles in these categories from 2035.

arb.ca.gov (DCAP), energy.ca.gov (clean vehicle sales), energy.ca.gov (clean vehicle sales split), arb.ca.gov (ZEV-only sales rule)