"The California rebate program for EVs and hybrid vehicles has officially run out of money for the 2011 fiscal year.
California’s program, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, has been giving California residents who purchase an Ev or hybrid a rebate. The rebate ranged from $1,500 to $5,000, depending on the type of vehicle that was purchased.
California designated $5 million for the program for the 2010-2011 fiscal year with an extra $2 million from the state’s Energy Commission. But thanks to the federal Cash for Clunkers program, California residents responded better than originally estimated. Unfortunately, as of June 20, the programs funds were depleted–10 days before the fiscal year actually ended.
According to the California Air Resources Board, there is a plan to renew the funding, but it has yet to be approved.
The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project has asked the state to designate $12 million to $17 million for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Current rebate applicants will be processed, but put on a waiting list until the new budget is approved by the state.
Even when the new budget is approved, EV and hybrid owners will not be getting as good a deal as rebate applicants before them.
As a part of their budget proposal, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project has offered to decrease rebates to between $900 and $2,500 in an effort to reach more applicants. Using this strategy would allow the program to offer 6,000 rebates, which is about four times the amount of people who applied in 2010.
“Even with proposed reductions in the rebate amount for next fiscal year, California consumers will still have access to $10,000 in clean vehicle incentives through the combined California rebate and federal tax credit,” Air Resources Board spokeswoman Karen Caesar told The Los Angeles Times."
Em: http://nissan-leaf.net/2011/06/30/calif ... n-trouble/
