All the California EV rebates in 2026

• MyFirstEV, from the stateIt takes $3,500 off a new EV, or $1,750 off an automaker-certified used one, right on the contract at the dealer. First-time EV buyers only, California residents only, once per person, no income limit. Battery-electric and hydrogen cars only: plug-in hybrids don’t qualify, even though the utility rebates below take them. Each brand funds half and sets its own model list, and each brand’s money runs out on its own schedule. Fourteen automakers take part on new cars and four of them on used; Tesla’s money is already gone. See every qualifying model, checked daily, in our MyFirstEV guide.
• The used-EV rebate, from your utilityWhere you live sets this one. The three big investor-owned utilities, SCE, SDG&E and PG&E, cover most of the state and pay the same thing: $1,000 on a used EV, or $4,000 income-qualified, funded by the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits. PG&E’s application window is 90 days instead of 180, and its $1,000 tier stops taking applications after November 11, 2026. Its $4,000 tier continues. City utilities and community-choice providers run their own, and they differ: LADWP pays $1,500 on a used EV, or $4,000 for customers on its low-income discounts; Pasadena pays $500, or $1,500 income-qualified; Central Coast Community Energy pays $1,500 on a new EV and $1,000 on a used one, more if income-qualified; San Jose Clean Energy pays up to $4,000 income-qualified and Silicon Valley Clean Energy $2,000. Some pay nothing on the car, including Sacramento’s SMUD and Anaheim’s city utility. The state’s incentive finder shows yours by ZIP code.
• Brand cash, from the automakerCustomer cash, lease cash and loyalty offers that change monthly and vary by model. It’s the brand’s money, it has nothing to do with the state, and it combines with both of the above. More in its own section below.

What you can collect together

“Stack” means collecting more than one of these on the same car, and the table at the top is the whole answer: MyFirstEV plus the utility rebate plus brand cash, each from a different source, each with its own paperwork, none of them looking at the others. A first-time buyer of a certified used Mach-E at $24,500 in Irvine collects $1,750 at the dealer and $1,000 from SCE a few weeks later, or $4,000 if the household is under the limit. The same buyer on a new Ioniq 5 collects $3,500 at the dealer plus whatever Hyundai is offering that month, and nothing from the utility.

Two things the table can’t show. MyFirstEV depends on the brand’s allocation that day: Tesla’s was gone in five days, and the others are first come, first served. And the $4,000 utility tier isn’t automatic. You apply, you document, and you wait on first-come funding.

What cancels out

• MyFirstEV is once per person, not per householdCARB’s test is whether the person going on the registration or title has ever been on an EV’s registration or title. A spouse who never has is still a first-time buyer, so a household that already has an EV in one name can collect MyFirstEV on a second car in the other name, as long as the first-timer is the only name on the title and the contract. Add the EV owner as a co-owner and the discount is gone.
• One utility rebate per car, per ownerSCE, SDG&E and PG&E share a rule: if you, or a co-owner, already collected a used-EV rebate on this car from any of the three, you can’t get a second one from another. SDG&E goes a step further and won’t pay on a car it has rebated before, whoever owned it then. SCE’s rules, as written, don’t bar a later owner from applying for a car a previous owner rebated through SCE, but SCE does say that trying to collect twice on the same car can get you banned for life from all three programs. SCE also limits you to one rebate every 24 months and three in total; SDG&E allows one per person for the life of its program.
• A brand’s own exclusionsLucid says its MyFirstEV discount doesn’t combine with its Go Electric credit; Toyota says its “not first-time” cash doesn’t combine with its Conquest cash (more on those offers in the FAQ). Read the brand’s fine print for the model you want.

Everything else combines, as far as the program rules go. CARB says MyFirstEV can be used with its own income programs and with incentives from outside CARB. SCE and SDG&E list no state program among their exclusions.

Orange County: SCE, SDG&E or Anaheim

Orange County has three electric utilities, and for a used-EV buyer the one on your bill might be worth up to $4,000.

• Southern California EdisonMost of the county. $1,000 on a used battery-electric or plug-in hybrid from SCE’s eligible list, or $4,000 if your household is enrolled in a program like CalFresh, Medi-Cal, WIC, SSI or LIHEAP, or earns under the limit below. Apply within 180 days of the purchase, keep the car registered to your SCE address for 20 months, and the car has to be truly used: more than 7,500 miles, or previously registered to someone else with “Used” on the contract. Dealer demos don’t count. Full rules on SCE’s program page.
• San Diego Gas & ElectricDana Point, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and some of the unincorporated south county; check the name on your bill if you’re near the line. Same $1,000 and $4,000, same 180 days, same 20-month registration rule, battery of at least 8 kWh, one rebate per person for the life of the program. Full rules on SDG&E’s program page.
• Anaheim Public UtilitiesNothing on the car. Anaheim pays $300 to $750 toward a home charger and panel work, and that’s it. The consolation is a big one: Anaheim has the cheapest electricity in the county, about 20 cents a kilowatt-hour all in. Over a few years of driving, that can be worth more than the rebate.

Both SCE and SDG&E set the $4,000 tier using the state housing department’s income limits for the county you live in, updated once a year. For a car bought on or after June 23, 2026, SCE publishes these Orange County cutoffs:

SCE's published Orange County limits for purchases on or after June 23, 2026. Household means the people on one federal tax return. Anyone claimed as a dependent on someone else's return doesn't qualify.

Orange County’s median household income is about $115,000, and roughly three in five households in the county earn under $150,000, so the $4,000 tier covers far more buyers than the “income-qualified” label suggests. The limit moves with household size, so find your own line in the table. If you’re anywhere near it, SCE lets you start a Rebate Plus application before you buy, so you know the answer first.

Shopping used? Every EV on Bestest is a listing from a vetted Orange County dealer with a “Used” contract, which is what the utility wants to see: used EVs in Orange County.

Brand cash

Brand cash is separate from everything above. It’s the automaker’s money, it changes on the first of most months, it varies by model, and it ranges from a few hundred dollars to several thousand on slower-selling models. It combines with MyFirstEV and with the utility rebate, because neither of those looks at it.

Two things to know. First, MyFirstEV appears on the brand’s offer sheet as its own line, often written as “$1,750 CARB cash plus $1,750 brand cash.” Anything else on the sheet is the brand’s. Second, we don’t track each brand’s monthly cash here, because it changes too often to print; check the brand’s California offers page for the model you want, with your ZIP code, and confirm it on the contract before you sign.

Claim them in this order

1. If you're near the income line, apply to the utility first. SCE's Rebate Plus can be started before you buy, so you know whether you're in the $4,000 tier.
2. At the dealer, get MyFirstEV on the contract as its own line and sign CARB's self-attestation form. Then get the brand's cash as its own line. Check both before you sign.
3. Register the car in California at your address. Out-of-state registration voids MyFirstEV, and the utility wants the registration to match your service address.
4. Within 180 days (90 for PG&E), apply to your utility with the contract, the registration and your account number. Standard is $1,000. Rebate Plus needs the tax transcript or proof of program enrollment dated within the window.

Beyond the car: chargers and rates

The state’s finder lists these alongside the car rebates, so here’s what an Orange County EV owner can add once the car is home. None of it depends on the rebates above.

• A home chargerSCE’s Charge Ready Home pays up to $4,200 toward panel and wiring upgrades for income-qualified single-family customers. Orange County Power Authority customers (Irvine, Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Buena Park) can get a free Level 2 charger through its marketplace. Anaheim pays $300 to $750. The South Coast air district pays up to $500 toward a charger for income-qualified residents.
• A cheaper rateSCE and SDG&E both offer EV time-of-use rates that make overnight charging the cheapest electricity you’ll buy. Anaheim’s standard rate is already the county’s lowest.
• If you drive for UberUber pays a one-time $4,000 to its Platinum and Diamond drivers who apply before switching to an EV and then complete 100 rides by December 31, 2026. It’s the only program on the state’s list that isn’t open to everyone.

Closed, paused or not for Orange County

People ask about these because they still show up in search results and on dealer handouts. None of them adds money for an Orange County EV buyer today.

• Replace Your Ride is closed to new applicantsThe South Coast Air Quality Management District’s scrap-and-replace voucher paid up to $12,000 toward a new or used EV when you retired a 2010-or-older gas car, for households at or under 300% of the federal poverty line ($47,880 for one person, $99,000 for four). As of this writing its site says it isn’t taking new applications “due to high demand, limited funding and a programmatic review,” and is working through the applications already in. No reopening date has been announced.
• The Driving Clean Assistance Program doesn’t cover Orange CountyIt’s the statewide version of the same program. Its eligibility page says residents of an air district with its own scrap-and-replace program can’t use the statewide one, and the South Coast district, which includes all of Orange County, has one. Its no-scrap financing path closed to new applications in August. Elsewhere in the state, the Bay Area and Sacramento air districts run their own versions, up to $12,000, and they’re still taking applications.
• The federal tax credits are goneThe $7,500 new and $4,000 used credits ended for cars bought after September 30, 2025.
• The Clean Fuel Reward is for trucks nowThe old point-of-sale reward on new passenger EVs ended in 2023; the 2026 program by the same name is for commercial trucks.
• One that’s live but isn’t an EV rebateThe Bureau of Automotive Repair’s Consumer Assistance Program pays $1,350 to scrap a car that failed its last smog check, with no income test, and $2,000 (failed) or $1,500 (passed) for income-eligible owners at or under 225% of the poverty line. It needs no EV purchase, it’s one car per 12 months, and it combines with everything on this page.

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