Rebates offered for Maine buyers of electric and hybrid vehicles

Courtesy / Natural Resources Council of Maine Mainers who drive electric cars can qualify for rebates of up to $2,000 under a measure announced by Gov. Janet Mills last week.

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By Renee Cordes

Mainers who drive electric and hybrid vehicles can qualify for rebates of up to $2,000 under a program announced by Gov. Janet Mills last week.

Rebates of $1,000 or $2,000 are offered to individuals, businesses and organizations under the program, which offers further discounts for low-income Maine residents and Maine governmental entities and tribal governments.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine estimates that when combined with federal incentives, Maine residents can now get up to $9,500 off the purchase of a new electric vehicle.

It also said that Maine is now the 14th state to offer a rebate or tax break on the purchase of electric vehicles, and that states with those kinds of incentives have seen 15% to 25% in higher sales of plug-in vehicles compared with the national average.

Maine's EV Accelerator Program is being funded out of a $5.1 million settlement won by Maine, under then-Attorney General Mills, with German carmaker Volkswagen AG and its affiliates Audi AG and Porsche AG for violating state environmental laws and emissions through their marketing and sales of light vehicles in Maine.

Gov. Mills announced the rebate program at a press event Friday in Brunswick.

"Maine people shell out $5 billion a year to out-of-state fossil fuel companies, and a lot of that money is spent on gas for vehicles that just become carbon dioxide pumped into our atmosphere. We can do better," she said. "It is time to usher in the next generation of technologies that will move our state towards a renewable future."

Dylan Voorhees, clean energy director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said the rebate program "will help prompt more Mainers who save money and reduce pollution by choosing to drive electric."

He added that Mills "is backing up Maine's new climate pollution targets with the sort of action we'll need to see in order to achieve a clean energy future."