YORK, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced Thursday that it’s offering bigger consumer rebates for electric vehicles. The DEP says the consumer rebates will focus on working-class households.
“Bigger consumer rebates for electric vehicle purchases and support for projects will expand the fast charging network across the state," said DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziade.
As of Sept. 1, the DEP 2022-2023 Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebate program is offering Pennsylvanians a bigger rebate for the purchase of a new or used battery electric car or truck.
The program lowered the household income levels eligible for a rebate. So, a family of two with an income of $69,000 is eligible for a $2,000 rebate for a battery electric vehicle. A family of four with an income of $55,500 is eligible for a $3,000 rebate.
“With a total of $2 million available, the rebate program aims to help get about 1,000 more electric vehicles on the road in Pennsylvania," said Ziade.
The Driving PA Forward DC Fast Charging Grants program also provided $3.4 million in Pennsylvania Volkswagen settlement funds to projects that will install 54 DC fast chargers in 16 high-traffic locations in 12 counties. DC fast chargers can charge a battery electric vehicle to 80% in 20 to 60 minutes.
The program was established by state law in 2004 and is funded by the utilities gross receipts tax.
The majority of the projects will help build out electric vehicle corridors across Pennsylvania, where charging stations are available every 50 miles.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is ramping up the development of these corridors and other charging networks across the state, using National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding.
“I think it’s important to kind of broaden the base of people that are getting access to electric vehicles, [what] that’ll do is increase the infrastructure that’s needed to have charging stations all across the Commonwealth," said Dan Lehr, the marketing manager at Lehman Volvo.
Some dealers in Central Pa. say demand for EVs and hybrids started taking off when gas prices began to spike.
“We’re basically sold out of the EVs that we have and plug-in, hybrids are also really popular. [A single day doesn't go by] where someone doesn’t walk [in] the door and ask if we have any EVs or if we have any plug-in hybrids in stock," said Lehr.
He says they’ve seen such a big increase, that they can’t keep up with demand.
“We actually have a waiting list for some of our models that are EV or plug-in hybrid, so we’ve seen the demand really outstrip the supply," said Lehr.
He continues that down the road more of their line-up will slowly become electric.
“By the year 2030, everything that we sell will be a fully electric vehicle. So we’re seeing an increase in production, right now it’s not enough to meet the demand, but a little bit down the road, that will be easing up," said Lehr.
With these grants, Driving PA Forward has now funded the installation of 106 DC fast charging plugs in 34 locations around the state. The program launched in 2018 to permanently reduce NOx emissions in Pennsylvania by supporting clean transportation projects with funding from Pa.'s $118.5 million settlement with Volkswagen.
Battery electric vehicle registrations in Pennsylvania more than doubled from March 2020 to March 2022, from 11,343 to 23,689 registrations.
The Driving PA Forward DC Fast Charging program provided grants to the following projects:
- 6406 Truck Plaza LLC: $195,039 to install two plugs at a travel plaza/truck stop within one mile of I-80 Exit 42 in Emlenton, Venango County.
- Applegreen Electric: $250,000 to install eight plugs at a Pennsylvania Turnpike plaza serving the I-476 corridor in Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, and $500,000 to install eight plugs at two Turnpike plazas serving I-76 westbound and eastbound in Somerset, Somerset County.
- Blink Network: $233,268 to install two plugs at a KwikFill convenience store within one mile of I-80 Exit 29 in Harrisville, Venango County.
- Coen Markets Incorporated: $240,000 to install two plugs at the Coen Market convenience store within one mile of I-76 Exit 91 in Donegal, Westmoreland County, and $240,000 to install two plugs at the Coen Markets Travel Plaza within a mile of I-70 Exit 6 in Claysville, Washington County.
- Evgo Services LLC: $118,673 to install four plugs at a Wawa store within one mile of U.S. 202 in Malvern, Chester County; $145,528 to install four plugs at a Wawa store on PA-611 in Pipersville, Bucks County; $165,663 to install four plugs at a shopping center 2 miles from Rt. 422 in Collegeville, Montgomery County; and $167,326 to install four plugs at a Wawa on Rt. 202 in North Wales, Montgomery County.
- Giant Eagle, Inc.: $210,000 to install two plugs at a GetGo store within one mile of I-79 Exit 14 in Waynesburg, Greene County.
- Raceway Management Company, Inc.: $205,618 to install two plugs at a Onvo Travel Plaza within one mile of I-81 Exit 219 in New Milford, Susquehanna County, and $222,752 to install two plugs at the Onvo Travel Plaza within a mile of I-78 Exit 13 in Bethel, Berks County.
- Sheetz, Inc.: $250,000 to install four plugs at a Sheetz store within one mile of I-70 Exit 57 in New Stanton, Westmoreland County, and $250,000 to install four plugs at a Sheetz within a mile of I-81 Exit 77 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County.