California rebates for electric vehicles are coming back.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Monday that offers $3,500 for first-time buyers of EVs that cost $50,000 or less. Theres also a rebate of $1,750 for first-time buyers who purchase a used electric vehicle with an MSRP of up to $25,000.
The governors office said Californians can take advantage of the rebates later this summer, but did not give a specific date.
The new Golden State initiative, called the MyFirstEV program, comes in reaction to last years 940-page federal budget legislation dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Republicans on Capitol Hill and signed into law by President Donald Trump. It included provisions that eliminated the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase or lease of a new EV and $4,000 for a used one.
Donald Trump is doing everything in his power to pollute our air and surrender the clean car industry to China on a silver platter, Newsom said in a statement. California is putting its foot on the accelerator. With our new instant rebate program for electric vehicles, were making it easier for families to drive clean, breathe clean, and keep more money in their pockets.
When asked for a reaction, a White House spokeswoman fired back, calling the governor Newscum.
Taylor Rogers in an email to the Union-Tribune said Newsom is carrying on with the Biden administrations failed energy policies by wasting Californians hard-earned taxpayer dollars to subsidize electric vehicles. President Trump rolled back the lefts very unpopular and costly nationwide EV mandate and restored consumer choice.
While visiting the headquarters of Rivian Automotive, Newsom signed Senate Bill 168 that earmarks $135.5 million for the rebate program that will be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by automakers who choose to participate in the program, meaning MyFirstEV could deliver $270 million in total.
Theres also an interesting clause within SB 168 that benefits zero-emissions carmakers Rivian and Lucid.
The legislation says incentives under the (rebate) program shall be provided to California-headquartered zero-emission vehicle companies regardless of the vehicle manufacturers suggested retail price or sales price.
That means that all vehicles from Rivian and Lucid qualify for the $3,500 rebates, even though Rivians least expensive model costs about $58,000 and Lucids cheapest offering runs around $71,000. Rivian is based in Irvine, and Lucid is headquartered in the Bay Area city of Newark.
Tesla, meanwhile, moved its production headquarters from California to Texas in December 2021. That means Tesla will not receive the MSRP exemption although it can take part in the rebate program with $50,000 limits for new EVs and $25,000 for used vehicles, if it chooses to do so.
The California Air Resources Board will administer the MyFirstEV program. CARB expects to announce next month which car companies will take part and provide more details on how the initiative will work.
The one-time funding is tied to the states 2026-27 budget. A spokesperson for CARB told the Union-Tribune the dollars allocated to the new program will be available until funds are exhausted.
That would mean that upon its launch, it would be wise for potential buyers to move relatively quickly to take advantage of the rebates before the money for the program runs out.
We expect strong demand, the CARB spokesperson said in an email.
Brian Maas, president of the California New Car Dealers Association , said his members welcome the rebate programs rollout.
Anytime were talking about an incentive program for EVs or vehicles in general, thats a good thing, Maas said. Youd much rather have the carrot than the stick, and that encourages consumers to think about (buying) these vehicles.
After the federal EV tax credit expired last year on Sept. 30, sales of zero-emission vehicles in California took a major hit, slumping 40.2% in the first quarter of this year, compared with the first three months of 2025.
Second-quarter numbers are expected to come out in about a week to 10 days.
California used to have a rebate program that operated for more than a decade. Called the02 Clean Vehicle Rebate Project , it offered thousands of dollars to buyers of EVs, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. But the program was discontinued in late 2023
The rebates ended in late 2023 because of a02 lack of funding due to a combination of greater EV adoption rates and a drop in gas tax revenue that threatened state road repair funds.
California has more zero-emission vehicles on the road than any other state.02 According to the California Energy Commission , registrations topped 2.61 million as of May. That number included 2.02 million battery-electric vehicles, almost 572,000 plug-in hybrids and 18,532 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
加利福尼亚州的电动汽车补贴政策即将重启。
加州州长加文·纽瑟姆于本周一签署法案，首次购买价格不超过5万美元的电动汽车的消费者可获得3500美元补贴。此外，首次购买厂商建议零售价不超过2.5万美元的二手电动汽车的消费者，亦可获得1750美元的返现。
州长办公室表示，加州居民可在"今年夏末"享受退税优惠，但未提供具体日期。
这项名为"MyFirstEV计划"的加州新倡议，是对去年由国会共和党人通过、唐纳德·特朗普总统签署生效的940页联邦预算法案（被称为"一揽子美丽法案"）的回应。该法案取消了购买或租赁新电动汽车最高7,500美元及二手电动汽车4,000美元的联邦税收抵免政策。
纽瑟姆在一份声明中表示："唐纳德·特朗普正竭尽全力污染我们的空气，并将清洁汽车产业拱手让给中国。" "加州正在加速行动。通过我们新推出的电动汽车即时返利计划，我们让家庭更容易驾驶清洁车辆、呼吸清新空气，同时节省更多开支。"
当被要求置评时，白宫一位女发言人迅速回击，称这位州长为“纽瑟姆”。
泰勒·罗杰斯在给《联合论坛报》的电子邮件中表示，纽瑟姆"正在延续拜登政府的失败能源政策，浪费加州纳税人辛苦赚来的钱来补贴电动汽车。特朗普总统废除了左派极不受欢迎且代价高昂的全国电动汽车强制令，恢复了消费者的选择权。"
在参观Rivian Automotive总部期间，纽瑟姆州长签署了第168号参议院法案，为该返利计划拨款1.355亿美元。参与该计划的汽车制造商将按1:1比例提供配套资金，这意味着MyFirstEV项目总资金规模可能达到2.7亿美元。
SB 168法案中还包含一项引人注目的条款，该条款将使零排放汽车制造商Rivian（里维安）和Lucid（路西德）受益。
该法案规定：『（退税）计划中的激励措施应提供给总部位于加利福尼亚州的零排放汽车公司，且不考虑汽车制造商的建议零售价或实际售价。』
这意味着Rivian（里维安）和Lucid（路西德）的所有车型都有资格获得3500美元的补贴，尽管Rivian最便宜的车型售价约为5.8万美元，而Lucid的最低配置车型价格在7.1万美元左右。Rivian总部位于尔湾市，Lucid则将总部设在湾区城市纽瓦克。
与此同时，特斯拉于2021年12月将其生产总部从加利福尼亚州迁至得克萨斯州。这意味着特斯拉将无法享受建议零售价豁免政策——不过若选择参与返利计划，其新车仍可享受5万美元的补贴上限，二手车则为2.5万美元。
加州空气资源委员会将负责管理"我的首辆电动车"计划。该机构预计于下月公布参与车企名单，并进一步说明该计划的具体运作方式。
这笔一次性拨款与加州2026-27财年预算挂钩。加州空气资源委员会（CARB）发言人向《联合论坛报》表示，新项目分配的资金将“持续可用，直至用尽为止”。
这意味着在该计划启动后，潜在买家最好尽快行动，以便在项目资金耗尽前享受返利优惠。
加州空气资源委员会（CARB）发言人在一封电子邮件中表示：“我们预计需求将非常强劲。”
加州新车经销商协会主席布莱恩·马斯表示，其会员对这项返利计划的推出表示欢迎。
马斯表示："每当我们讨论针对电动汽车或普通汽车的激励计划时，这都是件好事。相比强制措施，人们更愿意接受奖励政策，这会鼓励消费者考虑（购买）这类车辆。"
自去年9月30日联邦电动汽车税收抵免政策到期后，加利福尼亚州零排放汽车的销量遭受重创，今年第一季度与2025年前三个月相比骤降40.2%。
第二季度的数据预计将在一周至十天内公布。
加利福尼亚州曾实施一项长达十余年的返利计划，名为"清洁汽车返利项目"，该项目为电动汽车、插电式混合动力车及氢燃料电池车的购买者提供数千美元补贴。但该计划已于2023年底终止。
2023年底，由于电动汽车普及率上升和燃油税收入下降的双重影响导致资金短缺，进而威胁到州道路维修资金，相关补贴政策因此终止。
加利福尼亚州上路的零排放车辆数量超过美国其他各州。根据加州能源委员会的数据，截至5月，该州注册的零排放车辆已突破261万辆，其中包括202万辆纯电动汽车、近57.2万辆插电式混合动力汽车以及1.8532万辆氢燃料电池汽车。
