'Make Hybrid And Electric Vehicles More Affordable' In PA: Lawmaker

HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state legislator recently introduced a package of bills designed at increasing affordability for Keystone State residents looking to purchase hybrid and all-electric vehicles.

State Rep. Joe Ciresi, a Montgomery County Democrat, says his measures are aimed at incentivizing citizens to buy electric and hybrid vehicles as opposed to more traditionally owned gasoline-powered vehicles.

Ciresi say his legislative package would make these types of vehicles more attractive to buyers during times of high gas prices and inflation and would help target the cost barriers that often prevent broader adoption of fuel-efficient vehicles.

"When gas prices rise like we saw earlier this year, fuel-efficient vehicles help Pennsylvanians save money," Ciersi said in a statement. "This legislative package is intended to make hybrid and electric vehicles more affordable for middle class Pennsylvanians, expanding access to better fuel economy to more drivers. These fuel-efficient vehicles can play a role in providing Pennsylvanians relief at the pump, and these initiatives can provide those savings now and in the long term."

Once considered a futuristic technology, hybrid and all-electric cars are now a modern-day reality, Ciresi said, and as these types of vehicles become more prominent on roadways, government should "work to relieve the cost barriers that prevent many from seeing the benefits of this new technology, while ensuring that our state and citizens have the infrastructure needed to not be left out."

The legislative package contains five bills, which would do the following:

• Provide a 6 percent rebate from the total purchase price of a vehicle through a newly created Alternative Fuel Vehicle Purchase Rebate Program. The rebate would effectively act as a refund of the state's sales tax, with a maximum ceiling of $3,000.
• Make the state's current Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebate Program permanent, double the rebate amounts currently offered under the program, and add hybrid vehicles to the list of eligible vehicles.
• Create an Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Tax Credit that would help defray the cost of installing at-home electric vehicle charging stations. The tax credit would be up to $750 for the installation of a Level 1 charger and $4,000 for the installation of a Level 2 charging port.
• Create a five-year Green Vehicle Pilot Program, offering those who own green vehicles an opportunity to receive an EZ-Pass account credit from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. All electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles would be eligible for a $200 account credit, and hybrid electric vehicles could receive a credit of $100.
• Temporarily eliminate the state's vehicle registration fee for certain new or leased vehicles that have an estimated average city fuel economy of at least 40 miles per gallon. The registration fee waiver would be in effect for the first two years of a vehicle's registration.

Ciresi said that public-private partnerships have already come into play with regard to the electric vehicle industry, and he pointed to the fact that the lithium-ion batteries prevalent in many of these green vehicles were developed with support from the federal Energy Department.

Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation and Department of Environmental Protection have also been working to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the commonwealth, according to Ciresi's office.

One thing that does not appear to be addressed in Ciresi's legislative package is any type of move to amend the emissions testing for vehicles such as plug-in hybrid vehicles.

In Pennsylvania, all passenger vehicles are subject to an annual emissions test at the time of regular state vehicle inspection, which checks for mechanical issues.

Currently, all-electric vehicles get an exemption waiving the requirement for an emissions test, but regular hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles still must obtain, and pay for, the annual emissions testing.

There is no word whether the emissions testing exemption would be expanded at this point to cover any vehicles other than pure electric cars.