There's some good news (finally!) for the Californians among us who want to drive Electric Vehicles in 2020!

你可能已经听说了，加州建立了一个“清洁燃料奖励”计划，当加州居民购买或租赁电池容量超过5kwh的新电动汽车时，他们可以获得高达1500美元的奖励。如果你是那里的居民，那么我们说现在是切换到电力的完美时机;无论是你一直想买的新车，还是你开始觊觎的中年危机摩托车。

While incentives are great and all, admittedly they can be quite confusing to wrap your head around. There are various incentives in different areas in Cali, and you have to file separately for them. On the bright side however, it's all upfront and requires no paperwork - what a bonus!

SCE has reached out to clarify that their $1k rebate does not stack with the new $1,500 incentive, and other utility incentives might not either. While CARB said that both incentives can be used on the same car, SCE itself doesn’t allow customers to take both incentives, so you'll have to check with your individual utility to see if their programs stack.

There are also some more-local rebate programs available, such as a $500 rebate in the City of Riverside and up to $3,000 in the San Joaquin Valley, so the total might be even higher than $13,500 in some circumstances. And on top of all that, there are still other incentives available for electricity rates (check with your utility for off-peak or EV charging rates), charger installation, additional financing incentives for low-income customers, and the ever-coveted carpool lane access.

You can find out more through Plug In America’sPlugStar website, which lets you search for applicable incentives based on your ZIP code. CARB offers a similar service throughDriveClean.

这里有一个有趣的hack，例如，低收入或中等收入的电动汽车客户，如果购买非特斯拉或通用汽车，将能够在今年年底前获得最高13500美元的州和联邦奖励。Amounts for each vehicle are listed on theClean Fuel Reward Program’s eligible vehicles list.

So with this being said, it could prove difficult to qualify for the full federal and low income credit with your purchased vehicle of choice. There is a way to get around this though - a low income customer can lease a car, and the lessor will take advantage of the full federal tax credit, passing those savings on in lower lease rates. Its sort of a win / win really!

If you’re interested in doing “your part” for the planet and cushioning your pockets with a little bit of cash in the process then go take a look and see if you can start 2021 with a shiny new electric vehicle at a discount...

Now you know more aboutCalifornian incentives for electric vehicles, learn more aboutEV's, E-Bikes, energy efficiencyand how toreduce the carbon footprint of transport choiceson the following pages and in theEcoHomeGreen Building Guide.

Find more aboutgreen home constructionand reapthe benefits of a free Ecohome Network Membership here.