BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts is extending its electric vehicle rebate program.
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced that the rebates will be extended Wednesday to last through at least Dec. 31, 2021, and the administration will make at least $27 million available per year in 2020 and 2021.
The program was phased out from Sept. 30 through Tuesday because a rapid growth in applications caused a lack of funding, Baker and Polito said, but the funding plan they proposed for an extension was largely adopted in a recent supplemental budget.
Since 2014, the state has allocated more than $31 million for the effort, to incentivize the purchase of over 15,000 electric vehicles and reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 39,000 metric tons annually, Baker and Polito said.
The program offers a $2,500 rebate for qualifying battery electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles, or a $1,500 rebate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles with an all-electric range of 25 miles or more, that cost up to $50,000 to purchase.
Rebates will not be made available for purchases made prior to Wednesday.
