A new program to provide incentives for people who are buying their first electric vehicle in California is up and running, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday.
The program, approved by lawmakers in Sacramento earlier this summer, is aimed at offsetting the loss of federal EV incentives that were eliminated last year by President Trump and Republicans in Congress.
Under California’s new initiative, called “My First EV,” first-time EV buyers who purchase a new electric vehicle with a sticker price under $50,000 will be provided a $3,500 rebate. And first-time EV buyers who buy a used electric vehicle for less than $25,000 through manufacturers’ pre-owned vehicle program will receive a $1,750 rebate.
The rebates are given at the dealership during the sale and deducted from the car’s purchase price that day. The state program will pay half of each rebate, and 13 participating automakers will match it. The first three companies to have their programs up and running, with rebates beginning Friday, are Tesla, Hyundai and Lucid.
By the end of August, Ford, Chevrolet, Rivian and Kia will join the program. In September, Toyota, Lexus, Honda and Subaru will join, followed by Mitsubishi in November. Nissan and Volvo have not yet announced their launch timelines.
“While Donald Trump is hellbent on burning more expensive fossil fuels and raising costs for Americans, California is proving there’s a better way,” Newsom said in a statement.
“California is showing the world what real economic security looks like. It’s one that can’t be held hostage by foreign conflicts and Big Oil. The Golden State is leading the charge on building a reliable, affordable clean future.”
Cars, trucks and other forms of transportation emit 60% of the smog in California and 40% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.
California has cut air pollution dramatically over the past 50 years due to tougher rules on factories, power plants and vehicles, along with smog-check requirements for motorists, cleaner-burning diesel and gasoline blends, and incentives for electric vehicles. But because of the state’s large population, hot summers and geography that can trap smog in valleys, many areas, including the Central Valley and Los Angeles, still do not meet federal health standards under the Clean Air Act, and have rates of childhood asthma and other pollution-related ailments higher than the national average.
The California Air Resources Board, which is administering the new rebate program, estimates the $135 million lawmakers provided to fund it, along with matching funds from the automakers, will cover roughly 73,000 vehicle sales before the money runs out.
Electric vehicles have faced major headwind over the past year. Trump has reversed or blocked many of the federal incentives put in place by former President Joe Biden.
Last September, Trump and Republicans in Congress eliminated the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 for the purchase of new electric vehicles and $4,000 for used vehicles. They let a law expire that allowed states to permit solo EV drivers in carpool lanes on federally funded highways, ending that perk nationwide.
Trump also signed a resolution blocking California’s first-in-the-nation regulations banning the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles by 2035, which Newsom had put in place in 2020. California has filed a lawsuit over that issue, which is still pending.
Trump held a White House ceremony last year, saying California’s rules limited consumer choice. He revoked federal permission for the ban, called a “waiver,” that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had given to the state when Biden was in office.
“We officially rescue the U.S. auto industry from destruction by terminating the California electric vehicle mandate once and for all,” Trump said. “They said it couldn’t be done. It’s had us tied in knots for years. They passed these crazy rules.”
California has more electric vehicles than any other state.
In 2012, there were about 30,000 electric vehicles on the road in California. That year, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed an executive order setting an audacious goal: 1.5 million EVs sold statewide by 2025 — a 50-fold increase.
The state met it easily. Since then, 2.7 million EVs have been sold in California, according to data from the California Energy Commission. The top-selling model of any car, gas or electric, in California is the Tesla Model Y.
As technology has improved in recent years, allowing farther battery range — with many models able to travel more than 300 miles when fully charged — EV sales made up 22.9% of all new car sales in California through the end of 2025. Santa Clara County had the highest rate in the state, with 41.1% of all new vehicles sold being electric in 2025.
But after the federal incentives went away, sales began to drop.
So far this year, EVs make up 17.5% of new car sales in California. After Trump ordered military attacks on Iran, oil prices rose globally, sending gasoline prices higher nationwide. As a result, EV sales nationally and in California have begun to slowly increase again. In the second quarter of this year, 19.5% of new car sales in California were EVs.
Not all of Newsom’s EV efforts are popular.
Nearly two in three adults (66%) and 65% of likely voters said they oppose Newsom’s executive order banning the sale of all new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035, according to a poll released last month by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California. That opposition is up 17 points since July 2021, when 49 percent of Californians opposed the executive order. Xavier Becerra, the Democratic nominee for governor running to replace Newsom after he leaves office in January due to term limits, has said he may delay or overturn that order if elected.
Newsom was scheduled Friday to announce more details of the EV rebate plan at a news conference in Alameda County.
This is a developing story.