Oregon Supreme Court approves tax to fund state EV rebates

The Oregon Supreme Court approved the use of a privilege tax to fund the state's Clean Vehicle Rebate Program on Sunday, after AAA Oregon/Idaho and Trucking Associations Inc. challenged the tax in November 2017, saying it violated Oregon's Constitution. The program is integral to Democratic Gov. Katie Brown's 2017 initiative to address greenhouse gases and climate change. One of the goals of the initiative is to have 50,000 or more registered and operating electric vehicles (EVs) in the state by 2020, according to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) air quality planner Rachel Sakata.  The clean vehicle program offers both a standard rebate option and a "charge ahead" option for qualifying low-to-middle income (LMI) customers. The standard rebate is $2500 towards a purchase or lease of a new EV with a battery capacity of 10 KWh or more, and $1500 with a battery capacity of less than 10 KWh. Charge-ahead rebates are worth $2500-$5000.