Roseville, CA, is supposed to be a pretty nice place. So it's odd to see the state senator from there engaging in a bit of class warfare over electric-vehicle rebates. But State Senator Ted Gaines (R-Roseville) appears to be doing just that by proposing putting a price cap on which EVs qualify for state-funded rebates, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Gaines previously lobbied to get Tesla Motors to pick his district for the electric vehicle maker's Gigafactory, but his Senate Bill 40, which he first pitched in December, comes from a less-expensive EV point of view. That's because Gaines wants to put a $40,000 price cap on vehicles that qualify for California's EV rebate, effectively eliminating current Tesla vehicles from the bebefit. He also proposes increasing the rebate by $1,000 to $3,500.
The subject is topical because California accounted for about half of the country's new plug-in vehicles last year. Plug-ins also made up more than three percent of the state's new-vehicle sales. A somewhat similar proposal that would have capped the price of rebate-eligible vehicles at $60,000 was pitched last April, and was quashed by May.
Additionally, last summer, California State Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) proposed a bill designed to lure people in the more moderate income brackets into buying plug-in vehicles, including giving $3,000 to lower-income people who trade in an old car for a plug-in.
Gaines previously lobbied to get Tesla Motors to pick his district for the electric vehicle maker's Gigafactory, but his Senate Bill 40, which he first pitched in December, comes from a less-expensive EV point of view. That's because Gaines wants to put a $40,000 price cap on vehicles that qualify for California's EV rebate, effectively eliminating current Tesla vehicles from the bebefit. He also proposes increasing the rebate by $1,000 to $3,500.
The subject is topical because California accounted for about half of the country's new plug-in vehicles last year. Plug-ins also made up more than three percent of the state's new-vehicle sales. A somewhat similar proposal that would have capped the price of rebate-eligible vehicles at $60,000 was pitched last April, and was quashed by May.
Additionally, last summer, California State Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) proposed a bill designed to lure people in the more moderate income brackets into buying plug-in vehicles, including giving $3,000 to lower-income people who trade in an old car for a plug-in.
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