Power agency resumes electric vehicle incentive program

Eleanor Butchart is the proud owner of a Mercedes-Benz B250e, the last letter meaning electric.

The white compact hatchback is “fun to drive,” she said, seats four to five adults comfortably and has plenty of curb appeal. What it lacks is a tank for gasoline.

The B250e she bought last year wasn’t cheap, but the price was eased by a $2,000 incentive Butchart obtained from Sonoma Clean Power, the public electricity provider serving Sonoma and Mendocino counties, along with a $500 rebate from PG&E.

“It was a sweet deal all around,” said Butchart, a Santa Rosa resident.

The good deals for electric vehicles will be back on the table starting Wednesday, when Sonoma Clean Power launches its third and final Drive EV program, offering its customers incentives of up to $4,000 for the lease or purchase of 25 models of electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars sold by six local dealers.

The power company has budgeted $1.5 million for the program running through Nov. 16, and if funds run out before that date, CEO Geof Syphers said he would ask the board of directors to authorize more.

Promoting EVs is consistent with Sonoma Clean Power’s goal of addressing climate change, and also creates more demand for electricity, he said. An EV that drives for seven or eight years around the area consumes enough power to pay for the incentive, Syphers said.

The participating dealers are selling Chevrolet, Nissan, Kia, Ford, BMW and Chrysler models priced from $29,000 to $52,000, with potential dealer and manufacturer discounts in addition to the power agency’s incentives - a flat $2,000 plus an additional $2,000 for lower-income households.

Details will be posted Wednesday at the agency’s website - sonomacleanpower.org - and customers are advised to complete an online application to find out what Drive EV and other programs are available to them.

EV buyers may also may be eligible for state grants and rebates, as well as a federal tax credit.

In its first two years, the Sonoma Clean Power program provided people with discounts on 771 hybrids and EVs, and also funded 1,900 home chargers.

The vehicle incentive program will end after this year, Syphers said, because it has put a sufficient number of clean cars on the road. Enough, he said, so that “everyone knows a friend who has one.”