Over the past three years, the federal government has encouraged electric vehicle (EV) adoption from multiple angles. In 2021, Congress allocated $7.5 billion to expanding America's EV charging infrastructure as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Just this month, the Biden administration rolled out new tailpipe rules designed to further nudge automakers in the direction of EVs. And since Biden has been in office, we've seen all manner of tax incentives made available to individuals and organizations who've purchased EVs.
Types of grants and incentives for electric fleets
From tax credits provided at the federal level to discounted rates offered by local utilities providers, ways to offset EV procurement costs come in all shapes and forms. Here are the most common EV incentives you’re likely to encounter:
The Commercial Clean Vehicle Tax Credit
When the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law in 2022, it updated the long-running Plug-in Electric Vehicle Tax Credit with new rules a new name--the Clean Vehicle Credit. Through this incentive, businesses and tax-exempt organizations can save up to $7,500 on EVs under 14,000 pounds and $40,000 on heavier EVs come tax time. And while a multitude of factors determine the amount of relief you can receive from this credit, in terms of qualifying requirements, it's quite expansive. You can read the exact details of the credit on the IRS's website.
The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Tax Credit
Designed to encourage adoption of EVs (and biofuel-powered vehicles) in low-income and rural areas, the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Tax Credit enables businesses to offset expenses associated with installing EV charging equipment on their property. Should a fleet qualify for this incentive, they might be eligible to receive a tax credit covering up to 30% of their equipment costs (or $30,000, whichever figure is lower). The complete details of this credit can be found on the IRS's website.
Incentives from utilities providers
As the source of the juice that powers your EVs, utilities providers have a vested interest in encouraging fleets to go electric. Some offer small rebates for purchasing EVs while others provide discounted electricity rates to fleets that charge their EVs during off hours. These incentives differ substantially from provider to provider and may require fleets to install specialized electricity meters to be eligible, but are definitely worth exploring for any organization looking to maximize their bottom line.
State and local grants and rebates
From grants meant to help fleets transition away from ICE-powered vehicles to rebates to offset EV purchases upfront, state and local government agencies provide a wide variety of different EV-related incentives. The amount of incentives available in any location tends to correlate with the amount of EV infrastructure it already has, but given recent trends in EV charging development, fleets everywhere should look into any government-provided incentives applicable to them.
In fact, federal (and state) tax incentives for EVs have launched and expired so frequently as of late that it's often difficult to know what you currently qualify for. Given how costly purchasing fleet vehicles can be, any incentive not capitalized on represents a major missed opportunity for fleets.
Fortunately, there are a number of tools and techniques fleet managers can use to stay up to date on the latest EV fleet incentives. Here are our recommendations:
Use an EV cost calculator
To help fleets get a better understanding of what going electric might cost them, many EV manufacturers offer EV cost calculators on their websites. While a good portion of these calculators are centered around promoting deals on their vehicles, the best among them highlight what EV fleet incentives are available to your organization specifically.
A standout among these calculators is this one from GM Envolve. After you share some basic information about your organization, their calculator provides a comprehensive list of all the federal and state incentives for electric fleets you likely qualify for. These results even include links to official government web pages for you to learn more about each incentive.
While you should still conduct additional due diligence regarding incentives before making any purchasing decisions, EV cost calculators can help point you in the direction of many incentives you might otherwise miss.
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Follow EV-focused news outlets
There's no shortage of fleet industry trade publications covering anything and everything fleet managers might want to know about. But because of this variety in subject matter, as a reader, it's easy to miss articles about incentives for electric fleets. Thankfully, there are a number of fleet news outlets that specifically focus on EV topics.
If you're not already familiar with Charged Fleet and you're considering electrifying your fleet, you ought to bookmark their website or subscribe to their newsletter. Whether you're interested in EV technology, operational best practices or industry insights, there's always plenty to read from them. And as for EV incentives, they made it easy to stay up to date by dedicating a section of their website to articles about incentives and grants.
Connect with enterprise-focused EV dealers
Perhaps better than anyone else, enterprise-focused EV dealers can be relied on to know the latest EV incentives and regulations for fleets. As part of their sales spiel, dealers often bring up incentives when discussing the pros and cons of EVs with potential customers. To successfully convince fleets that EVs are ultimately more affordable than their sticker prices might suggest, dealers have an active interest in staying up to date with all federal and state tax credits.
So, to make use of this knowledge if you're considering fleet EVs, it's worth connecting with one or more EV dealers. Even if you aren't ready to electrify today, they should be more than willing to follow up with you when an incentive relevant to your organization becomes available.
Once you procure your EVs, you’ll need a way to keep tabs on them. Compared to whiteboards, paper documents and spreadsheets, EV fleet management software provides you with far more visibility over the condition of your EVs. With Fleetio, you can log every time you plug your EVs in and keep track of your charging costs over time. Handling your EV fleet management on the same platform you use to manage your maintenance activities enables you to get a clear picture of your EVs’ total cost of ownership.
Track the health, status and charge of your EVs
Whether you’re all in on EVs or have a mixed fleet, you can track every crucial detail of your assets with Fleetio. Our new charge tracking feature keeps a comprehensive log of every time your EVs plug in.
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