The electric vehicle rebate program, which provides rebates to Oregonians who purchase certain types of electric vehicles (including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) and other qualifying zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs), becomes effective on October 6, 2017. However, under the legislation, rebates can’t be made until there are sufficient funds available from the new tax introduced by the legislation to fund this ZEV rebate program. While the state will begin collecting funds on January 1, 2018, the amount of funds collected will not be sufficient to start granting rebates until the summer of 2018.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has started to develop rules and its policy commission (the Environmental Quality Commission) will consider these rules to implement the program in the spring of 2018 following public notice and opportunities for public comment. One of the key issues to be determined in the rulemaking includes the date when purchases of qualifying vehicles will be eligible for a rebate. The state is considering allowing rebates for purchases made after January 1, 2018, when the fee on vehicle dealers becomes effective. If this approach is adopted, purchases made earlier in 2018 could be eligible for a rebate later in the year when funds from the dealer fee become available.
For more information about the program, please visit: http://www.oregon.gov/deq/aq/programs/Pages/ZEV-Rebate.aspx