EV Incentives & The Future of Mobility

By ZappyRide | September 1, 2022

Americans know Electric Vehicles (EVs) are the most immediate way forward to not just fight climate change, but also reduce the substantial and growing cost of gas to fuel their vehicles. Consequently, EV registrations soared by 60% in the first quarter of 2022. Despite this, ownership isn’t happening fast enough. Only 1% of the 250 million cars, SUVs and light-duty trucks out on the road today are electric. The fact is, EVs can appear considerably more expensive. Cheaper models cost $27,000-40,000. 

Over time, EV incentives can offer huge fuel and maintenance savings that offset higher sticker prices. 

Tax credits, rebates and exemptions can knock thousands off the pricetag. Buyers qualify for up to $7,500 in Federal tax credits for many manufacturers. And with the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act on August 7th, 2022, these rebates may be restored for manufacturers such as GM and Tesla and extended through 2032. These incentives present a fast-track to EV ownership. 

So, what’s the problem?

Actually, the enormous number of EV incentives. 

In addition to the Federal tax credit incentive, individual States, electric utilities, counties and even cities offer their own incentives. Incentive eligibility and amounts vary considerably based on factors ranging from make, model, battery capacity, to the buyer’s tax filing status, income and even their profession.

Complicated incentives are a barrier to EV ownership. It comes as no surprise that not just consumers but dealers find the vast array of EV incentives confusing and can’t quickly figure out the price to drive a car off the forecourt. Let alone how incentives can reduce their monthly payment by $100 or more.

Figuring out incentives isn’t easy and drivers could be losing thousands of dollars or worse - purchasing a gas vehicle that will end up costing them thousands of dollars more in the long run.

This is where ZappyRide comes in. 

We offer a comprehensive view of the incentives landscape - so car manufacturers, dealers and electric utilities can instantly ascertain which incentives are applicable to a specific electric vehicle.   

While the US Government publishes a directory of incentives called the Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), this can be confusing and it is hard to arrive at eligibility and specific dollar savings amounts. Working out incentive savings for a single car purchase can take considerable time - hardly conducive to a dealer or manufacturer communicating with a busy consumer who just wants a single after incentive price and monthly payment.

ZappyRide has done all this... translating a complex time-consuming chore into instantly presenting a specific dollar amount based on all qualifying incentives. It does this already for established leaders in the marketplace such as on Ford’s Mustang Mach-E website and in the My Chevrolet and MyCadillac mobile apps.

Setting up an internal effort to track incentives might sound elementary to the uninitiated, but funding opportunities are constantly changing. Lists of qualified vehicles are routinely updated, incentives often run out of funding or have their funding renewed - and new incentives keep appearing. 

One might imagine tracking incentives could be performed by an intern or a sales person in their spare time. However, the stark reality is that it takes years of human effort to build and maintain a complete and accurate database of the incentive landscape - let alone coding logic to work out which incentives discount a car’s purchase price by a specific amount.

ZappyRide continuously updates its database. We guarantee diligent monitoring spanning both automated tracking of incentive webpages - so ZappyRide’s team is notified whenever an incentive changes - through to systematic manual checks. Translation: Get the geeks to do it. ZappyRide presents incentive eligibility instantly - so consumers can save as much money as possible on EVs and EV chargers. All of this incentive information can be accessed via an API, or via web page widgets, that ZappyRide can deliver and seamlessly drop into a website.

If you want to act, now is the time.  

ZappyRide is already trusted by automotive leaders like GM, Ford, BMW, Hyundai, Kia and Volvo together with major utilities including PG&E and ConEd. This means iconic car brands and electric utilities can focus on doing their job. Developing and powering the EVs of tomorrow.

At ZappyRide, we are committed to accelerating change.

EVs are transforming the way we drive. 

ZappyRide will deliver the incentive insights you need to power your EV website.