UPDATE – HB 2493 (Fee-bate) has been deferred. Thanks to all who offered testimony.

The 2020 legislative session is heating up. As expected, we have a number of EV and renewable energy bills in flight. As with the last session, we don’t expect most of these to get to the finish line. We believe that we must prioritize those that are most impactful and likely to be passed.

This post will be part of a series of ‘calls-to-action’ – requests for support from you and all who are passionate about the electrification of transportation in Hawaii.

Help Needed

What we ask is that you take a few minutes to submit testimony on certain bills. This requires that you visit the relevant page in the Hawaii State Legislature to enter you vote (support/opposition) and a comment indicating the reason for your vote. The comment is optional but recommended. In the event that you’re unable to provide testimony (it’s premature or too late), you can still make your opinion known by emailing the representatives or senators.

EV Rebate Bill

Today’s measure is HB 2493. This bill introduces a rebate for the purchase of an electric vehicle. The measure calls for a rebate for purchases of up to $40,000 and for the program to be funded through a tax on the purchase of gas vehicles over a certain price point.

We are supportive of this as it offers a funding strategy that does not pull from the state budget or other existing funds, and one that also creates a market pressure to shift away from gas-burning vehicles.

We’ve already submitted testimony in support of this and included the following recommendations:

• That there be a tiered rebate, one that prioritizes pure electric vehicles (BEVs). That there will be a lower rebate amount for Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) with more than 30 miles of pure electric range and an even lower amount for PHEV with less than 30 miles of pure electric range.
• That the rebate be also applied to leases.
• That a higher rebate amount be offered to low-income households.

Please take a moment to submit testimony ASAP or to write to our legislators. If you have not submitted testimony before, you will need to create an account. Please see instructions in an earlier post: Support EV-Friendly Legislation.

Writing to our Legislators

In case you need to send an email, please send to the following email addresses. Use “Support HB2493” in the email subject line. The email addresses:

repaquino@capitol.hawaii.gov,
replowen@capitol.hawaii.gov,
rephashem@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repkitagawa@capitol.hawaii.gov,
replee@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repmizuno@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repnakashima@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repohno@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repperruso@capitol.hawaii.gov,
reptakumi@capitol.hawaii.gov,
reptarnas@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repthielen@capitol.hawaii.gov,
reptodd@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repwildberger@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repwoodson@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repyamane@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repmorikawa@capitol.hawaii.gov,
repsanbuenaventura@capitol.hawaii.gov

Extra Credit

There are a couple more bills that are relevant to EV adoption. Please take a moment to offer testimony in support of these as well. They include:

• HB2398 – Establishes an income tax credit of $2,000 for each electric vehicle purchased by the taxpayer.  Requires each state agency to purchase electric vehicles to replace existing vehicles as needed.  Requires all vehicles used by state agencies to be electric vehicles by 2030.
• HB2699 – Establishes clean ground transportation goals for state agencies on a staggered basis until achieving a 100 per cent light-duty vehicle clean fleet by 12/31/2035, and for all light-duty vehicles in the State by 12/31/2045.