FIGURE 1

Cost-Effectiveness and Rebate Influence

Rebate dollars per ton of GHG emissions reduced, 100k miles

• The carbon intensity of gasoline in California improved in 2021 while electricity worsened.
• The fuel efficiency of new gasoline cars sold in California improved slightly in 2021 while the efficiency of the rebated EV mix decreased slightly.
• The influence of the CVRP rebate decreased in 2021: the fraction of participants responding that they would not have acquired their EV without the rebate (constituting the Rebate-Essential Reductions group in Figure 1) decreased across each vehicle and rebate type.
  • While Rebate Essentiality among Increased Rebate recipients had been relatively stable in prior years, the decrease in 2021 is likely related to a change in the eligibility criteria for that rebate type, which expanded in January 2021 from those with income <300% of the federal poverty level to <400%.

See here for additional resources related to CVRP emission impacts and cost-effectiveness.

See here for further analysis of CVRP rebate influence.