The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will suspend its Standard Electric Vehicle Rebate Sept. 9 because of limited funding.
Buyers will have until 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 8 to purchase or lease a new, eligible electric vehicle and get a rebate from the state. The agency expects the Charge Ahead Rebate for low and moderate-income households to stay open.
The standard rebate offers up to $2,500 for eligible new battery-electric or plug-in hybrid cars and new zero-emission motorcycles.
The program is popular and receives at least $12 million annually, or 45% of the state’s Vehicle Privilege Tax (0.5% of the vehicle’s retail price collected by Oregon dealerships and paid quarterly to the state).
In 2025, new, eligible electric vehicles bought or leased from May 22 to Sept. 9 qualify for the rebate. Buyers have six months from the date of purchase or lease to apply.
DEQ was encouraging Oregonians with eligible purchases to apply early and track funding online. If funding is depleted, applications from the eligible timeframe that have been approved will be placed on a waitlist to be paid in spring 2026 when the next funding window opens.
As of Aug. 6, the standard rebate program had $512,500 in funding remaining. There were $2.16 million in applications in the queue.
“The Oregon Clean Vehicle Rebate Program continues to exceed all expectations and remains extremely popular with people across the state,” said DEQ Air Quality Transportation Strategies Section Manager Rachel Sakata. “It is a great way for families and individuals to save money while choosing cleaner transportation and improving air quality.”
The Charge Ahead Rebate received additional one-time funding from a Climate Equity and Resilience Through Action grant. That rebate is limited to households making below 400% of the federal poverty guideline. For households of 1, the maximum income is $62,600.
The rebate offers $5,000 for eligible used battery electric or plug-in hybrid cars or $7,500 for the purchase or lease of new eligible vehicles.
The Charge Ahead Rebate had $19.9 million in funding remaining and $3.1 million of applications in queue as of Aug. 11.
Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com, on X @DianneLugo or Bluesky @diannelugo.bsky.social.

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