New York will make $30 million available to assist car buyers with the purchase or lease of a new electric vehicle and on Friday also announced the expansion of a popular incentive program for EV charging equipment.
The Drive Clean Rebate Program will be administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA, and offers a point-of-sale rebate of up to $2,000 at participating car dealerships in New York. Higher rebates are available for longer range, all-electric vehicles.
NYSERDA is also increasing the incentives in its Charge Ready NY 2.0 program from $2,000 to $3,000 per port to reduce equipment installation costs for Level 2 chargers at multifamily buildings and workplaces. Incentives for chargers located in disadvantaged communities have been increased to $4,000 per port.
NYSERDA is also offering $3 million to locations that hold educational "ride and drive" community events, purchase or lease EVs, or offer free charging.
The Drive Clean Rebate program has issued over 190,000 rebates to consumers since 2017, according to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office. And in the last year, Charge Ready NY 2.0 has supported the installation of more than 1,000 Level 2 chargers.
New York has “made significant progress in developing the infrastructure to enable the electric vehicle transition,” New York Power Authority President and CEO Justin Driscoll said in a statement.
Meeting the state’s climate goals will require 2-3 million EVs in New York by 2030 and 10 million by 2050, according to NYSERDA.
NYPA’s EVolve NY fast charging network offers 240 charging stations “with more to come later this year,” Driscoll said. And construction is beginning in April on the authority’s largest EVolve NY site at LaGuardia Airport, which will host a dozen high-speed chargers.
The state has completed 11 four-charger EVolve NY sites using federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure formula program funding, with two more to be completed this month and nine more to be constructed over the next year. “NEVI support to states is meant to close gaps between existing stations and the EVolve NY team has been steadily closing those range anxiety gaps,” according to the statement.
The Trump administration suspended the $5 billion NEVI formula program in February, informing state transportation directors in a memo that “no new obligations may occur” until guidance is updated.
