Chevy Volt joins Tennessee’s EV Rebate Progam

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced today that Chevrolet Volt purchasers are now eligible for the state’s $2,500 electric vehicle (EV) rebate. The rebate requires that consumers qualify for and participate in The EV Project, a national study on EV use and charging infrastructure deployment.

The EV Project will provide participants with a free Blink® 240V networked charge station and a credit of up to $1,200 towards its installation. To be eligible, Tennessee residents must sign an EV Project participant agreement, purchase the Volt, take delivery of the car, and have SPX Corporation install their Blink charge station by June 30, 2012. Volt owners who have already purchased and taken delivery of their vehicles are still eligible for the rebate if they are accepted into The EV Project. Consumers should contact the original selling dealer to inquire about retroactive rebates.

“The state’s $2,500 electric vehicle rebate provides an extra incentive to those who want to purchase a more energy efficient and environmentally friendly vehicle. “We’ve had a great deal of interest from Tennessee consumers regarding the Volt, and I am pleased it is now eligible for rebates,” Molly Cripps, director of the ECD Energy Division, said.

“We applaud the state of Tennessee for adding the Volt to the EV rebate program. “Tennessee is a vital market for The EV Project. The addition of the Volt into the rebate program ensures we will further our efforts to gather invaluable data from our already rich infrastructure in the Tennessee market,” stated Don Karner, president of ECOtality North America.

The primary goal of The EV Project is to collect, analyze and report on the use of electric vehicles and the infrastructure needed to support them. This information includes data regarding the energy used, along with time and duration of charger use. No personal information is shared or included in the analyzed data. Participants must maintain an in-home Internet connection to transmit the data until The EV Project concludes on April 30, 2013.

In September of 2010, the state of Tennessee announced that $2.5 million had been budgeted for the electric vehicle rebate program, enabling the first 1,000 Tennessee residents who purchase either a Chevrolet Volt or Nissan LEAF SL, the opportunity to participate in The EV Project and receive a $2,500 rebate. The state rebate is in addition to a federal tax rebate of up to $7,500.

ECOtality is the project manager of The EV Project and will oversee the installation of commercial and residential charging stations in 18 major cities and metropolitan areas in six states and the District of Columbia. The project will provide an EV infrastructure to support the deployment of EVs in these key markets. The project is a public-private partnership, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy through a federal stimulus grant and made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

For more information on the state’s EV rebate program, please visit tn.gov/ecd/CD_energy_electric_vehicle_rebates.html. More information on The EV Project is available at TheEVProject.com.

Tags: Chevrolet Volt, ECOtality North America, EV Project, Nissan LEAF SL, TN Electric Vehicle Rebate Program

Category: Economic & Community Development/Growth, Nashville, News, Tennessee