Changes in New Jersey’s policies regarding electric vehicles have brought together unlikely allies – experts in the automotive industry and environmentalists, two groups who have condemned recent changes affecting people who buy EVs.
“The state’s electric vehicle policies are kind of incoherent,” said Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers.
The state’s “Charge Up” fund, which offers rebates to people who buy EVs, has increased to $50 million for the next fiscal year, but the amount available for individual purchasers has decreased from $4,000 to $2,000 for most people. New Jersey is also phasing out its 20-year-old sales tax exemption for EVs in October, and adding a $1,000 registration fee to benefit the Transportation Trust Fund. Some say these new charges will make it much more difficult for the state to meet its goals for clean cars, which include phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
“The incentives that we had up until recently started to move the needle,” said Rick DeSilva Jr., co-owner of Liberty Hyundai in Mahwah. “That’s where it’s really frustrating as a dealer.”
“EVs can help to reduce smog and reduce ozone and climate pollutants,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “We should be accelerating their adoption, not rolling back the incentives for electric vehicles.”
