Whitmer $25M rebate plan favors EVs, new cars

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week announced a $25 million rebate plan for car buyers. She’ll seek the rebate in Michigan’s 2025 budget and will tout the plan in her 2024 State of the State address.

The rebates will range between $1,000 for a new gas-powered vehicle and $2,500 for a new electric vehicle produced in a UAW facility. Gas vehicles made by union workers get a $1,500 rebate, while EVs produced by non-union shops get a $2,000 rebate.

The MI Vehicle Rebate Plan will favor electric and union-produced vehicles. The program excludes used cars.

The rebate plan will “boost new electric, hybrid, and traditional combustion vehicle sales in Michigan after the United Auto Workers and Big Three reached a new contract,” Whitmer said in her announcement.

Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II said the rebates would “cement Michigan as the best place to build a bright future.”

Cliff Cicotte, president of the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association, thanked Whitmer for favoring new vehicles.

“This program will directly support Michigan residents, while also highlighting the importance of new vehicle sales to our state economy,” Cicotte said in a statement accompanying the Whitmer announcement. “New vehicle dealers across Michigan look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with state leaders to seamlessly implement and promote this incentive program.”

The announcement notes that $7,500 federal rebates are still available for most EV purchases, bringing the total maximum rebate, between state and federal governments, to $10,000 per vehicle.

Whitmer said the rebate, if enacted into law, would continue until all $25 million has been spent.