Guides
EV incentives, by where you live
Federal credits, state and utility programmes in California and Texas — what exists, what has closed, who qualifies, and where to verify each one.
Why this page has no dollar amounts on it
Incentive programmes change constantly. Amounts move, income caps move, eligible-vehicle lists move, and programmes open and close with little notice. Any figure printed here would be wrong within a year — and a stale number on a charging company’s website is worse than no number, because somebody plans a purchase around it.
So this page routes rather than quotes. It tells you which programmes are worth your time given your situation, and sends you to the body that administers each one. That is where the number of record lives.
Find the ones that apply to you
Start with where you live. Four of the programmes below have closed since 2025 — including both federal credits and California’s carpool-lane decal — and they stay listed, marked with the date they ended, because being told a thing is over is more useful than finding nothing and assuming the page is broken.
Texas is a third case again. Its state rebate is funded in rounds rather than running continuously, so it is neither open nor gone: it is closed until the next round, and the useful thing is to be on the list that announces one.
Worth your time?
Which programmes apply to you
Answer what you can — the list narrows as you go.
Where do you live?
Everything below applies wherever you are until you pick a state.
Are you buying or leasing a car soon?
Would you consider a used EV?
Can you charge where you park overnight?
Would you describe your household as income-qualified?
5 open programmes, 1 between rounds, 4 ended — answer to narrow
- Clean Cars 4 All (opens in a new tab)
California / regional air districts
Pays substantially more than the old rebate did to scrap an older, higher-polluting car for a cleaner one. Run regionally, so the terms depend on your air district.
- Driving Clean Assistance Program (DCAP) (opens in a new tab)
California Air Resources Board
The statewide programme that took over after CVRP closed. Aimed at first-time and lower-income buyers, and unlike Clean Cars 4 All it does not require scrapping an old car. Covers used EVs as well as new.
- MyFirstEV (opens in a new tab)
California
An instant rebate applied at purchase rather than claimed later, launched in August 2026 and currently offered through a small number of manufacturers.
New enough that participating brands are still changing. Confirm with the dealer before you count on it.
- Utility charger rebates (opens in a new tab)
Your electricity provider
Several Texas utilities pay toward a home charger and its install, and some offer an EV time-of-use rate. Which ones depend entirely on who serves your address — Texas retail electricity is deregulated, so it is worth asking rather than assuming.
- Utility rates and charger rebates (opens in a new tab)
Your electricity provider
Most California utilities run an EV-specific time-of-use rate, and some pay toward a home charger install. If you can charge where you park, this is usually the largest recurring saving on the list.
- Light-Duty Purchase or Lease Incentive Program (TERP) (opens in a new tab)Closed between rounds
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas's state rebate for a new electric, hydrogen or plug-in hybrid vehicle, run under the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan. Funded in rounds and awarded first-come, first-served, so it opens and closes with its budget.
TCEQ runs an email list that announces when a round opens. Rounds have closed within weeks of opening, so being on it is the difference between claiming and missing.
- Federal clean vehicle credit (§30D) (opens in a new tab)Ended 30 September 2025
IRS
The federal credit against tax for a qualifying new EV. Terminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025 for any vehicle acquired after 30 September 2025.
The cut-off turns on when the vehicle was acquired, not when it was delivered — a binding written contract with a payment made on or before that date can still qualify. That is a question for your tax preparer, not for us.
- Used clean vehicle credit (§25E) (opens in a new tab)Ended 30 September 2025
IRS
The smaller credit for a qualifying used EV bought from a dealer. Ended on the same date and under the same law as the new-vehicle credit.
- Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) (opens in a new tab)Ended late 2023
California Air Resources Board
California’s long-running purchase rebate, which put close to 600,000 clean vehicles on the road. Closed to new applications and not returning — the state has shifted its money toward income-qualified programmes instead.
- HOV lane access (Clean Air Vehicle decal) (opens in a new tab)Ended 1 October 2025
California DMV
Solo access to carpool lanes for zero-emission vehicles. The federal authority that let states run it lapsed on 30 September 2025; every decal expired the next day and the DMV had already stopped issuing them.
California legislated an extension through 2027, but it needs federal approval under 23 U.S.C. §166 that has not been granted. If that changes, this comes back.
The one people forget
Purchase incentives get the attention because they are large and one-off. But if you can charge where you park, an EV-specific time-of-use rate from your utility is often worth more over the life of the car than any single rebate — it applies every night for years rather than once. It is also the least advertised, because no dealer earns anything by telling you about it.
What we can and can't tell you
We run charging stations. We are not tax advisers, and nothing here is tax advice — eligibility for the federal credits in particular depends on your own return in ways no website can assess.
The eligibility logic on this page was last reviewed in 4 September 2026. If you are reading this much later than that, treat the links as the source and this page as a map to them.
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