California Clean Fuel Reward Pause Coming Sept. 1

A popular EV rebate in California is putting on the brakes. Beginning September 1st, the California Clean Fuel Reward will be temporarily paused due to insufficient funds. Unlike similar issues that EV buyers may have experienced in the past, there is no ETA on when it'll resume and no waitlist to save your place in line.

According to the program website, the rebate "will be temporarily reduced to $0 as of September 1st, 2022." The program cites several reasons for the pause: "Higher than estimated growth" of EV sales, decreased revenue from the sale of carbon offset credits, and a "legal obligation" to keep $10 million in reserve.

With less than 1 week left, this doesn't leave EV and plug-in hybrid buyers much time. The Clean Fuel Reward offers $750 off most EV models and a PHEV discount based on a vehicle's battery size. On a Toyota Prius Prime, that amount is $450, while a larger battery on the RAV4 Prime makes it eligible for $750.

Curiously, the Clean Fuel Reward doesn't plan to start a waitlist for buyers, as confirmed by a program representative this morning. That's a big difference from the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project. When the CVRP ran out of funds, a waitlist was established to save buyers' places in line until funding was secured.

Sadly, this appears to eliminate one of the only discounts available for Tesla buyers. Our investigation found that Tesla already took language about the $750 Clean Fuel Reward out of its online car configurators. Earlier this year, Teslas were booted from the Clean Vehicle Rebate after price increases exceeded MSRP caps.

This isn't the first time that the Clean Fuel Reward's success has come at a cost. Late last year, the Clean Fuel Reward was cut in half from $1,500 to $750. Unlike the Clean Vehicle Rebate, the Clean Fuel Reward has enabled buyers to take advantage of upfront savings rather than a post-sale rebate and has no income cap.

EV buyers in California will likely face challenges given the fallout from an inventory shortage and the signing of the Inflation Reduction Act earlier this month. As we reported previously, Volkswagen responded by no longer offering the Federal EV Tax Credit to lessees, and Toyota EV lease prices rose by over $100 a month.

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