New CT Incentive to Buy or Lease an Electric Vehicle

Up to $3,000 cash rebate for CT residents, businesses, & municipalities who purchase or lease an electric or fuel cell vehicle.

BMW i8 electric vehicle

On May 19, 2015 Gov. Malloy announced the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate Program (CHEAPR). This will offer cash rebates of up to $3.000 to state residents, businesses, and municipalities who purchase or lease an electric vehicle (EV) or fuel cell vehicle (FCV). The rebate is on a sliding scale based on the qualifying vehicle's battery capacity.

The program is funded by $1 million that Connecticut received from approving the 2012 merger between NSTAR and Northeast Utilities, the combined company now called Eversource Energy. In total $800,000 will be used for the cash rebates and $200,000 will be used to provide incentives to the salespeople at dealerships that sell the vehicles.

This builds on the state's EVConnecticut initiative that has provided grants to install about 160 electric chargers that must be available to the public free of charge and has also partnered with the Connecticut Automotive Retailer's Association to award dealerships that sold or leased the highest number of EVs.

Table 1. CHEAPR rebates based on the electric vehicle battery size.

Gov. Malloy's press release about the CHEAPR program

Program Details