California has quietly reinstated the $2,000 Clean Vehicle Rebate on the Kia EV6. According to the program's website, the 2023 EV6 is once again eligible for the popular electric car incentive. The move comes after Kia brought back the EV6 Light, a previously-discontinued base model priced beneath a $45,000 MSRP cap.
As we reported last November, the Kia EV6 lost the $2,000 Clean Vehicle Rebate for 2023 when the automaker discontinued the EV6 Light, the model's base trim with a shorter range of 232 miles (versus 310 miles on other styles). When the EV6 was dropped, our analysis found that the model's base price rose by $7,100.
Late last month, CarsDirect learned that Kia brought back the EV6 Light. With an MSRP of $43,925, the cheapest EV6 is now significantly more affordable than the brand's initial 2023 EV6 starting price of nearly $50,000. However, even if the shorter range of the EV6 Light isn't to your liking, the change has an important benefit.
The CVRP fine print states that a model's "base MSRP" must be under $45,000 to qualify for the incentive. Now that the EV6 Light is back, all versions of the EV6 — including longer-range styles with prices above the MSRP cap and the high-performance EV6 GT — also qualify. That's a $2,000 price cut for Kia EV6 buyers.
A spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board confirmed this for us back in 2021, stating that CARB implements the MSRP cap "at the model level, not the trim level." At the time, this explained why a $60,000 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT qualified for the Clean Vehicle Rebate despite being above the price cap at the time.
Shoppers should be aware of recent volatility in electric car prices. Last month, Tesla began offering inventory discounts on prebuilt Model 3s, and Hyundai started June off with a first-ever $5,000 IONIQ 5 rebate. That came shortly after IONIQ 5 lease prices were slashed, allowing the EV to undercut the Tesla Model 3.