Single-family home charging systems no longer included
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources Division of Climate, Coastal, & Energy announced that Delaware’s Clean Transportation Incentive Program will continue to offer rebates to businesses and drivers for another year.
The incentives include the purchase or lease of electric and alternative fuel vehicles and charging stations. The extension keeps the program running until Dec. 31, 2020.
“Reducing transportation-related emissions is key to reaching our greenhouse gas reduction goal,” said DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin. “Electric vehicles are a smart choice for citizens and businesses alike, and the Clean Transportation Incentive Program is helping Delaware drivers change from fossil fuels to cleaner alternatives that reduce air pollution.”
Since 2015, the program has provided rebates totaling $4.6 million to more than 1,500 purchasers of electric vehicles, propane and natural gas-fueled vehicles, and electric vehicle charging stations.
Electric vehicle charging station rebates cover between 75 to 90 percent of the cost of a Level 2 charging station.
The rebates apply to businesses, workplaces, and publicly-accessible charging locations and multi-family residences, including apartment complexes, townhomes, and condominiums operated by a commercial entity, and government or nonprofit organizations. In 2020, the program will no longer offer rebates for single-family home charging stations.
Rebate amounts for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, updated for 2020, include $2,500 for battery-electric vehicles, and $1,000 for plug-in hybrid vehicles. Rebates for electric vehicles are available only to battery and plug-in hybrids with a purchase price of $60,000 or less.
The program also offers rebates for the purchase or lease of propane or natural gas vehicles. Rebates include $1,500 for dedicated propane or natural gas vehicles, $1,350 for bi-fuel propane or natural gas vehicles, and $20,000 for heavy-duty dedicated natural gas trucks.
Funding for the Clean Transportation Incentive Program is made possible through Delaware’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
The program was designed to help with the initial cost of moving to cleaner vehicles.
Delaware has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 28 percent by 2025 from a 2005 baseline. Transportation is now the largest single source of emissions in Delaware, accounting for 35 percent of our carbon emissions in 2016, the latest year for which data is available.
Delaware has about 1,100 electric vehicles, nearly 13,000 hybrid (gas and electric) and a few hundred natural gas-fueled vehicles. Sales of electric vehicles are expected to increase as the range of batteries increases and battery prices drop.
Critics claim the subsidies favor wealthier residents given the higher prices of electric and hybrid vehicles.
More information on Delaware’s Clean Transportation Incentive Program, is available from Breanne Preisen, Clean Transportation Project Specialist, at 302-735-3366, or visit de.gov/cleantransportation.
