CVRP is making it easier and faster for customers to get a rebate for purchasing or leasing an EV. Customers can now get preapproved before they purchase or lease a vehicle and can transfer the rebate directly to the dealership. In just a few simple steps, you can claim the transferred rebate and apply it to the customer’s down payment. Here’s how a preapproved rebate works:

1. How a customer becomes preapproved for a rebate
   
   First, a customer must apply for a preapproved rebate before they buy or lease their EV from the dealership. After CVRP preapproves their application, the customer visits a participating dealership and puts their preapproved rebate amount - which varies by vehicle model and income eligibility - toward the purchase or lease of an eligible vehicle.
   
   The customer has the option to use the rebate at the point of sale as a down payment, or if they change their mind about applying the rebate at the point of sale, can have the rebate issued to themselves directly after the purchase or lease. A customer who chooses to claim the rebate after the transaction is responsible for submitting their own qualifying documentation; the dealership is not involved in this process.


2. Using the preapproved rebate at the time of purchase or lease
   
   Once the customer has selected which vehicle they want to purchase or lease (original lease terms must be a minimum of 30 months) they need to provide you with their CVRP application number, which was provided to them via email after preapproval. You can use this number to verify their rebate status and see the approved rebate amounts by vehicle model type. This is done online by logging in through the Log In button at the bottom of the Dealer Preapproval page.
   
   If the customer does not readily have their preapproval application number with them, they may retrieve it from the confirmation email message CVRP sent to them.


3. A customer can transfer the rebate to the dealership
   
   After you have verified the rebate amount with the customer, and the customer opts to apply the rebate directly to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle, you can negotiate the customer’s vehicle purchase or lease price using the rebate as part of their down payment. At this point, you can claim the rebate via the Log In button at the bottom of the Dealer Preapproval page. To claim the rebate, you will need to provide vehicle-specific information online and ensure that the rebate amount applied to the purchase or lease is clearly listed as a line item on the purchase or lease agreement.


4. Submit supporting documents
   
   After the customer signs the final purchase or lease agreement and takes delivery of the vehicle, the dealership has 14 calendar days to submit copies of supporting documents to CSE in order to receive the rebate. Documents should be scanned and the dealership representative should confirm that all information is legible prior to submitting. The required documents are:
   
   
   1. Copy of purchase or lease agreement
   2. Copy of proof of registration (REG 397, Application for Registration of New Vehicle)
       
   Three pages are usually necessary to scan a long purchase or lease agreement. To ensure that the financial lines of a long purchase/lease agreement are not accidentally cut off, CVRP recommends overlapping the scans so the bottom of each scanned page is duplicated at the top of the next scanned page.


5. Timeline for rebate disbursement
   
   Once the dealership submits the supporting documents outlined above, CVRP staff will review them within 7 calendar days. Assuming the documents are complete, legible and meet program requirements, CVRP will initiate electronic payment to the dealership via ACH transfer. Funds will arrive in the dealership’s enrolled bank account within 10 calendar days of approval. Some delays may occur if there are any issues with the documents submitted. If issues arise, CVRP staff will contact the dealership-provided primary and secondary dealership contacts via email.