Connecticut is sweetening state incentives for consumers who purchase electric vehicles.
Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced Monday that rebates under the state’s Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate (CHEAPR) program will increase to between $750 and $7,500, depending on the type of vehicle purchased. That’s up from between $500 and $5,000.
The state is also extending the program to the purchase of used electric vehicles.
Connecticut currently has about 7,000 electric vehicles on its roads, the administration said. The administration estimates that state consumers need to be driving 125,000 to 150,000 electric vehicles by 2025 and 500,000 by 2030 to meet the state’s statutorily mandated greenhouse gas reduction target.
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“These new and increased incentives will go a long way toward expanding the pool of consumers able to invest in an electric vehicle,” said Katie Dykes, the commissioner of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. “This is an important step in the state’s pursuit of a zero-emission transportation future that promises cleaner air and will create new jobs in Connecticut’s green economy.”
The move comes the same day the administration announced it has been awarded a $7.4 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration for the purchase of ten battery electric buses and ten DC fast chargers.
The buses are earmarked for CTtransit’s Waterbury division and will help make that city’s bus depot the first bus facility in the state capable of running a 100% battery electric bus transit fleet, the governor’s office said.
