Texas $2,500 EV Cash Grants Available for Plug-in Vehicles

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Texas22Step

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Anyone buying a BEV (such as the MINI SE) or PHEV from a licensed TX dealer may apply for award of a $2,500 cash grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) under its Light Duty Motor Vehicle Purchase or Lease Incentive Plan (LDPLIP), which is one part of its Texas Emissions Reduction Plan. Any purchase (or 3 yr. + lease) of a qualifying vehicle on or after September 1, 2021 will fill the bill (up to 2,000 grants allowed).

There are provisions in the program to allow dealers who have ordered qualifying vehicles for customers to obtain and save a "place in line" for one of the 2,000 awards.

There are no recipient income limitations or qualifications, but the cash grant itself is deemed taxable for federal income tax purposes, and TCEQ will issue an IRS Form 1099-MISC in 2023 to awardees.

There are a few (not too difficult) program requirements (such as one has to operate & license the vehicle in TX for at least one year after purchase/lease) that you will want to check out before applying. Their grant processing time is about 10- 12 weeks.

The TCEQ web site for this program where interested folks can see / download everything involved can be accessed here.
 
My dealer informed me of this on delivery and had all the forms printed out, I just submitted my application yesterday.
 
I submitted mine a month ago but I don’t hold out much hope as 2,000 vehicles in a state this size is not much even when you subtract all the Teslas…
 
AndysComputer said:
I submitted mine a month ago but I don’t hold out much hope as 2,000 vehicles in a state this size is not much even when you subtract all the Teslas…
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Tesla owners are excluded from the grant because they don't have dealerships, and the dealership lobby writes the laws.

Due to this, the grant didn't even come close to running out last time.
 
I knew why they were excluded, but figured that even though they represent the bulk of EV sales (maybe 80%?) there would be enough machEs and Id4s etc to cause it to run out if we were late in the game receiving our Minis.
That said, if it didn’t run out last time then I’m more hopeful!
 
AndysComputer said:
I submitted mine a month ago but I don’t hold out much hope as 2,000 vehicles in a state this size is not much even when you subtract all the Teslas…
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you should be fine. Did you get a reservation number when you ordered the vehicle? You can reserve a spot by having the dealer say you have one on order and they save you a spot.

even if you didn’t do the reservation I think you’re still fine. They only started this program about 2 months ago.
 
I just went through all this. You can also reserve a spot in line if you just have a car “on order”. Hit me up if anyone needs help.
 
The dealer advisor emailed me the program details, I read through it and realized I could get a spot based on reservation which I made the last week of August, but got no reply to my email.
So I submitted the docs based on the registration application which was made last day of November.
 
AndysComputer said:
I submitted mine a month ago but I don’t hold out much hope as 2,000 vehicles in a state this size is not much even when you subtract all the Teslas…
Click to expand...

My understanding is that Teslas aren’t eligible for this program since Teslas do not sell thru “licensed dealers” (anywhere, but including TX. In fact, if you look at the eligible vehicle list from the linked web site, Teslas aren’t listed.

I would say your chances are good …. I filed my application in early November and just received a notice of award for my Mini SE purchase.


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
 
I got notification of my award approval yesterday! Woohoo!

I got the 2022 Countryman PHEV

For reference, here was timeline for me:

Nov 8th, 2021: put down deposit to reserve car (which was already built and at UK port, inexplicably with no owner yet).

Nov. 9, 2021: dealer submitted the reservation form to TERPapply

Nov. 10, 2021: I received a reservation number from TERPapply

Dec 20, 2021: I took delivery of vehicle (Woohoo!)

Jan 1, 2022: I submitted the application (referencing my reservation number), along with all the other necessary documents.

Jan 14, 2022: I received grant award approval email. It said funds should be mailed to me within 30 days (with the note that it could be 90+ days if they’re busy).

I sent an email to the person who was helping me to thank them, and I asked if she was allowed to tell me how many slots are left on the 2,000 car limit for the program. I bet there are a ton of slots left, they just started the program in October and Tesla’s are exempt (as others have noted). I’ll post an update if I get a response.

Based on my Nov 10 reservation number, along with some hefty assumptions, my guess is about 500-600 slots have been taken and 1400-1500 remain open. But that includes a lot of speculation.
 
For anyone in Texas that filed for the EV grant I filed mine on 12/10/2021. I reached out to them for a status on 01/13/2022 and they stated that it is in the Que being worked. I was told that currently approvals are taking 14 to 16 weeks. Just wanted to let everyone know what I found out.
Also good to know only 88 out of 2,000 have been awarded as of today.
Good luck everyone!
 
Thanks for that info @Martha !

I filed mine own Dec 8th and called them yesterday but had to leave a message, so far no-one has gotten back to me.

The concerning thing is I didn't get the automated response email I was supposed to get when I emailed the paperwork in hence the phone call.
But we'll see...
 
AndysComputer said:
Thanks for that info @Martha !

I filed mine own Dec 8th and called them yesterday but had to leave a message, so far no-one has gotten back to me.

The concerning thing is I didn't get the automated response email I was supposed to get when I emailed the paperwork in hence the phone call.
But we'll see...
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@AndysComputer I also did not get an automated response email. I actually emailed the state to confirm that they received and I received an email back stating that they received and I was getting set up in some que to process my application. I then did a follow up email on 01/13/22 and that is when I was informed that it will take 14 to 16 weeks. I will do a follow up at 14 weeks if I don't hear from them and post an update.

Also viewed your video on YouTube very informative. I live in Richardson and commute to Plano saw your post about videos in a different thread. Thanks for the video.
 
Wow I can’t believe there are only 88 awards granted so far. They must be sluggishly slow… I remember they told me about 80 had already applied when I first spoke with them in early November.

Make sure y’all give every last document it asks for. They also told me in the beginning that any documents missing will slow the process of the application significantly
 
Bemsha said:
Wow I can’t believe there are only 88 awards granted so far. They must be sluggishly slow… I remember they told me about 80 had already applied when I first spoke with them in early November.

Make sure y’all give every last document it asks for. They also told me in the beginning that any documents missing will slow the process of the application significantly
Click to expand...

I think the extended processing time may also have something to do with their process of verification with other agencies (that they can't control) like the DMV that the vehicle was actually submitted for a TX registration, etc. After TCEQ's program approval, the actual writing of a check has to be done by yet another state agency (Texas Comptroller) and that involves entering a whole new queue there.

My own application filed in early November was among the first 35 approved by TCEQ for this particular program, but I am still waiting for the actual check. It would seem like they surely could find ways to streamline this whole process, but on the other hand I am happy enough that the State government apparently doesn't just spit out checks without making sure that an applicant actually qualifies for whatever program is involved. I have decided to go into SWW (sit, watch & wait) mode for a while longer.
 
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