Residents of Santa Barbara who are interested in installing an electric vehicle charger may be eligible for rebates from the city.

One of the largest obstacles for customers of electric vehicles is securing a charger, and Electric Ride 805 hosted an event Monday sharing rebate options.

The group is a coalition of organizations helping people transition to electric vehicles. The state of California hopes to have 5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030.

Residents of Santa Barbara are eligible for the city’s Residential EV Program, which offers three different rebates.

The incentives can be used for the purchase or lease of an electric vehicle, a level 2 EV charger, and any associated electrical work.

The program also offers higher rebates for residents below a certain income level. Grants for a battery electric vehicle are $4,000, and $2,000 for a plug-in hybrid.

Applicants may also be eligible for $1,500 for electrical work for the installation of the charger. The city also grants $2,000 based on income needs.

Anyone interested can visit the program website and enter their zip code into the tracker to see what rebates they qualify for.

“We’re gearing up to launch the program again for this upcoming fiscal year,” said Juliet Garcia, mobility coordinator for Santa Barbara Clean Energy. “We’ll begin accepting applications July 7.”

Last year the city granted 95 EV purchase rebates, 43 EV charger rebates, and 39 EV make-ready rebates.

More Vehicle, Charger Rebates

For residents outside of Santa Barbara, there are other options to help pay for charger installation or new vehicles.

One of the groups geared toward helping county residents is Central Coast Community Energy, or 3GE. The group offers different rates of rebates based on whether the applicant is buying a new or used car, along with their income level.

Through its Electrify Your Ride program, someone buying a new electric car can qualify for a standard rebate of $1,500 for a new car. They may also qualify for a rebate of up to $3,500 depending on their income.

Rebates for the purchase of a charger and installation can range between $2,000 and $3,000.

The agency also offers rebates to commercial and multi-family customers. The rebates allow for $2,000 per EV, up to $10,000.

The last day to apply for a grant is July 6, but the program may reopen in October.

The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District also announced that it is opening its next grant window for its infrastructure program, beginning on July 27 and ending on Sept. 4.

The program is open to private, public, and nonprofit entities looking to fund infrastructure for EV stations.

Grants from the program begin at $10,000 and go up to $250,000.

The grants are decided on several factors, including eligible costs, which include design and engineering, equipment and materials, installation, taxes, shipping and delivery and warranties.

Eligible projects include multi-family properties with a minimum of five residential units, EV chargers accessible to all residents, and level two and level three charging units. Level one charging units may be approved on a case-by-case basis.

The buildings must also be ADA accessible.

Stefan Ng, the CEO of Moon Five, discussed the struggle many renters deal with trying to install electric vehicle chargers for their cars.

Ng said the decision is largely up to the property owner, and residents may not have any way to ask for one to be installed.

“What that’s really led to is a decrease in adoption of electric vehicles within multifamily homes,” he said.

His company is looking to fill the gap by offering installation and chargers to specific renters. The company works with the property owner to install the equipment.

The cost for the renter is usually $50 a month, but the company is currently waiving the fee due to a $3.4 million grant from the California Energy Commission.

The grant is allowing the company to install 400 units before Jan. 1, 2027, and will allow the charging unit to be maintained for free for six years.

A recording of the seminar will be available on the Electric Ride 805 website.