EV incentives

Atlantic City Electric is stepping up its smart charging game — and they’re not just slinging rebates. The Exelon-owned utility is using its innovative new EVsmart program to make EV charging easier for utility customers across South Jersey while quietly laying the groundwork for a smarter, more flexible electrical grid.

While the Trump Administration walks back emissions standards and pretends science isn’t real, New York Governor Kathy Hochul is announcing plans to improve the quality of life for her constituents by investing over $21 million in support of zero-emission mobility and transportation solutions across New York State.

ComEd confirmed that the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has approved its second Beneficial Electrification Plan. This plan builds upon an existing investment and will commit an additional $168 million over three years to support its Illinois ComEd customers who purchase or lease an EV or install a charger.

While Washington continues to threaten America’s economic security and position as a global technology leader by toying with the idea of killing the $7,500 Federal EV tax credit, the ENERGY STAR program, and other energy efficiency incentives, the private energy sector is stepping up with massive investments in battery storage, charging infrastructure, and commercial EV rebates – and helping fleet buyers navigate those new incentives is becoming part of the broader business plan.

No matter how badly a fleet wants to electrify their operations and take advantage of reduced fuel costs and TCO, the fact remains that there are substantial up-front obstacles to commercial EV adoption … or are there? We’ve got fleet financing expert Guy O’Brien here to help walk us through it on today’s fiscally responsible episode of Quick Charge!

Germany’s new car market as-a-whole continued to struggle through the end of the first quarter, but you’d never know it from looking at EV sales. Even as Tesla’s fortunes continue to decline, EV sales shot up more than 35% year over year – now approaching 17% of the market, and that’s WITHOUT government incentives!

Fueled by incentives from the Illinois EPA and the state’s largest utility company, new EV registrations nearly quadrupled the 12% first-quarter increase in EV registrations nationally – and there are no signs the state is slowing down.

Cynics will point at big rebates and claim they mean the vehicle isn’t selling, but that just exposes them as industry noobs. A rebate is a powerful financial tool that helps dealers overcome obstacles like negative equity, poor credit, down payment requirements, and interest rate objections so you can drive home in the car of your dreams today.

If you’re dealing with any of the above, pay attention: these EVs could get you behind the wheel of a new electric ride sooner than you think!

On today’s challenging episode of Quick Charge, Elon seems serious about rebuilding the Cybertruck that exploded outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, there are questions about Tesla’s record-setting weekend in Canada, and lots, lots more.

The 2025 Chicago Auto Show opened this week, and I’ve been struggling a bit with how to approach this story about the decline and fall of what was once the American auto industry’s premier commercial vehicle show – but one thing was absolutely clear: the Nissan LEAF is the best new car deal in Chicago. ***

On today’s episode of Quick Charge we explore the uncertainty around the future of EV incentives, the roles different stakeholders will play in shaping that future, and our friend Stacy Noblet from energy consulting firm ICF stops by to share her take on what lies ahead.

Owner-operators are a huge part of the heavy truck market, and they’ve been among the most hesitant groups to transition from diesel to electric semi trucks. That may be changing, however, as Saldivar’s Trucking becomes first independent owner-operator in the US to deploy a Volvo VNR Electric Class 8 truck.

A new tool is out that lets you search for EV incentives in your area, covering not just the federal $7,500 incentive, but any other local incentives to help you save money when buying an EV.

On today’s episode of Quick Charge, we’ve got big news from Ford, a Tesla Semi charger in the middle of Utah, and TRC’s Joe Annotti shows up to talk about the role incentives play in fleet electrification.

Vermont is now offering its residents up to $6,000 in incentives to replace their flood-damaged, scrapped cars with EVs.

Volvo Trucks has become the first commercial truck OEM in the UK to qualify four different models for the Government’s £25,000 plug-in grant on new registrations.

New Jersey has launched the fourth year of its Charge Up New Jersey EV incentive program, and it’s not quite as good as it was in 2022.

The state of Vermont has launched an incentive program that will help residents scrap and replace old gas cars with new or used eligible electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs).

Vermont is launching new electric bike and car incentive programs and is also continuing an existing EV incentive program for state residents. The transportation sector currently causes about 40% of the state’s carbon emissions. 

New York State governor Kathy Hochul (D-NY) announced this week that more than $12 million will be added to the state’s Drive Clean Rebate program, which helps consumers save up to $2,000 on the purchase of an electric vehicle.

The US Senate is reportedly considering changes to the extra $4,500 incentive for electric vehicles built at union factories in the US that is part of the Build Back Better act.

It comes as several countries are pushing to stop the proposal.