- The US state of Washington has launched its instant EV rebate program, offering eligible EV buyers up to $9,000 in rebates.
- The program, which has $45 million worth of funding behind it, will run until either until June 2025, or until that multi-million dollar pot runs out.
- The program focuses on driving EV adoption amongst lower-income residents in the state.
The US state of Washington introduces a new EV rebate program
Beginning this month, the offer from Washington State should be particularly attractive, thanks to its instant rebate – with the discount being applied at the point of sale or lease, rather than something that needs to be applied for at a later date.
There are several criteria for eligibility in the scheme. Firstly, residents must have a household income below set thresholds. For example, for a single-person household, income must be below $45,180 to be accepted in the scheme, while for a four-person household, income would have to be below $93,600. All fully-electric passenger cars are eligible, both new and used so long as the list price is below $90,000.
For new EV transactions, buyers performing outright purchases or leases between 24 and 35 months can take a $5,000 rebate off the list price. That increases to $9,000, for leases lasting 36 months or longer. There is also a $2,500 discount to be had on used EVs, whether leased or purchased outright. The discount available on leasing means that EVs can be had for under $200 a month, according to calculations from the Washington State Department of Commerce.
Particularly with the US EV SUMMIT coming up later this year, expect other states to also explore modifying their existing EV rebate programs, to help encourage EV purchases across the country.
