State of CT EV Purchase Incentives

State of Connecticut EV Purchase or Lease Incentives

Most recent update: September 25, 2025.

There are incentives for vehicle purchase and for charging.

September 25th Update

As of October 1st, 2025, the day after the federal incentive expires, the battery electric vehicle standard rebate will be raised to $1000.

August update – Changes being implemented as of August 1st.

  • The Battery Electric Vehicle standard rebate is now $1000.
  • PHEV standard rebated is $500.
  • The Rebate+ incentive (for income-limited individuals) for a new BEV is $4000 ($1000 base plus $3000 adder).
  • The Rebate+ incentive for a new PHEV is $2000 ($500 base plus $1500 adder).
  • Rebate+ used incentive for a BEV remains at $5000.
  • Rebate+ used incentive for a PHEV remains at $3000.

The Community+ incentive has not come to pass.

The commercial rebate, once envisioned to include businesses, municipalities, non-profits, and tribal entities has not launched and there are no plans to do so at this time.

This blog post has more detail and background about the changes.

CHEAPR Program Description

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection created a program referred to as the Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate Program (CHEAPR).  The primary incentives are given as rebates. A rebate is more consumer-friendly in that it is immediate and will benefit those who do not have enough taxable income to qualify for the full federal credit. The income-limited incentives require filling out an application after purchase but that will be changing to a voucher system.

  • Revised income-limited (LMI) rebate rules, extending eligibility for those with income levels up to 3 times the federal poverty rate – about $96,450 for a family of 4 or $46,950 for an individual. These are the levels for 2025. They get revised every year, so it is worth double-checking before applying. Also, it applies to anyone residing in an environmental justice or distressed community.
  • The LMI rebates have a pre-qualification or voucher which would enable a buyer to receive the rebate at the time of purchase. This is a big improvement over the original program, where the buyer had to lay out the cash. The voucher was launched in 2023.
  • $500 incentive for the purchase of an e-bike costing no more than $3000. This is targeted to LMI individuals.

Other Requirements

  • MSRP Cap for new EVs – $50,000. The definition of MSRP is the trim level price. If you order options that raise the price above $50,000, that is ok. This is a little more forgiving than the definition for the federal incentive, though an important difference is that there is only one incentive that applies to sedans, SUVs, and trucks. Discounts or surcharges by the seller do not affect eligibility.
  • Vehicle must be purchased from a CT dealer or direct seller. Direct sellers are companies such as Tesla, Rivian, or Lucid that do not have dealership networks. Of these, only Tesla has eligible vehicles at this time.

The frequency with which one can use this program has been changed to twice per driver per lifetime (up from once) and the count resets as of June 2021. In other words, if you had already received a CHEAPR incentive prior to that date, you can get two more.

(There is a fuel-cell vehicle incentive. There are no fuel-cell vehicles currently for sale in the state and the program has never awarded a fuel-cell rebate.)

CHEAPR is electronically integrated with dealers to facilitate applying the rebate directly to the purchase. CHEAPR also has a process to work with Tesla for qualifying vehicles. Much of the Tesla purchase process happens online and the incentive is integrated. Just keep in mind that Tesla knows whether the vehicle qualifies but doesn’t know if the driver has used up their limits. There is language that asks the purchaser to warrant their eligibility. If an incentive is awarded to an ineligible vehicle, you should expect a polite nastygram from DEEP notifying you that the incentive has to be returned.

The CHEAPR website can be used to verify vehicle eligibility. They publish a list of eligible vehicles. If you are purchasing newly introduced or updated model and you don’t see it in the list of eligible vehicles even though it meets the criteria, we recommend that you verify with the dealer that the CHEAPR database has been updated. There is always somewhat of a lag as DEEP works to verify updates.

E-Bike Incentives

CT now has an E-bike incentive. It is prioritized for income limited individuals and then subsequently awarded via lottery. A consumer must fill out an application. This is the DEEP page for E-bike incentives.

Incentives From Smaller Utilities

Some of the smaller utilities, which are not regulated by PURA, also offer incentives to buy and install chargers. Two examples are the Norwich Public Utilities and the Third Taxing District in Norwalk. These programs are typically authorized one year at a time, i.e. more frequently than the Eversource and UI programs, and so it is advisable to check the most current information.

Norwich EV Incentives

Norwich currently has incentives for the purchase of a new or used BEV or PHEV, as well as for the purchase and installation of 240 volt charging equipment. This is the energy efficiency programs page for Norwich.

Norwalk Third Taxing District

This utility has incentives for the purchase and installation of EV charging equipment, and this is the application/information page.

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