California Introducing New EV Incentives, With Boost For Rivian & Lucid But Not Tesla

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When the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress decided to kill the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state would help pick up the industry a bit again with new subsidies. Now, that is coming to fruition. Unsurprisingly, there’s special support for California-based companies, and that doesn’t include Tesla.

The state has set aside $135 million (for now) to support new EV buyers. Here are the key details:

• The incentive is only for people who haven’t previously owned an EV.
• There are subsidies available for both new-vehicle purchases and used-vehicle purchases.
• New vehicles have to have a price of $50,000 (MSRP) or less, while used vehicles have to have a price of $25,000 or less. (There’s an exception, though, for Californian automakers, which includes Rivian and Lucid but not Tesla, which is now headquartered in Texas. Some Tesla vehicles will still qualify, but the ones above $50,000 in price will not.)
• There is no need to file for a tax credit or anything, the incentives are handled at the dealership.
• And, the biggest point: the state is offering a $3,500 subsidy on new EV purchases and a $1,750 subsidy on used EV purchases.

So, yes, California is stepping up to help a bit. Personally, I would have liked to have seen stronger incentives — to replace the US ones at least. But it is what it is, and it’s better than nothing and much better than the states that are slapping extra fees on EVs.

I do like that the subsidy is exclusive to people who haven’t yet owned an EV. Sure, I’m sure many of us who have had EVs wish we could get more subsidies to buy more, but EV owners are almost entirely repeat EV buyers, and what we really want is to expand and grow EV buying as much as possible. Leave the money there to entice those who have been hesitant to buy EVs. Give them extra motivation to make the switch.

By the way, there are also extra EV incentives for low- to moderate-income Californians! Check out Access Clean California for more on that. They also offer solar, ebike, and other incentives.

• Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2026/07/06/california-introducing-new-ev-incentives-with-boost-for-rivian-lucid-but-not-tesla/