Tesla Buyers Blow Through California’s New EV Rebates in Just 5 Days

Key Points:

• California's new MyFirstEV rebate program for first-time EV buyers exhausted Tesla's entire share of state rebates within five days, highlighting Tesla's continued popularity in the state despite a national downturn in EV demand.
• The program offers $3,500 rebates on new EVs priced under $50,000 and $1,750 on used EVs under $25,000, but Tesla is disadvantaged due to a price cap exemption for California-based companies like Rivian and Lucid, while Tesla's headquarters moved to Texas in 2021.
• California allocated $135.5 million to the MyFirstEV program, matched by automakers for a total of roughly $271 million in incentives aimed at boosting EV adoption amid the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit and federal rollbacks on emissions regulations.
• Despite a nearly 28% drop in national EV sales in June, California remains a strong market for EVs, with Tesla registering 45,953 vehicles in the state during Q2 2023, representing about 57% of all zero-emission vehicle registrations in California.
• The MyFirstEV program is part of California’s strategy to counteract federal policy setbacks and promote cleaner air and local EV industry growth, with other automakers like Ford, Rivian, and Toyota expected to join the rebate offerings soon.