Connecticut has handed out $53.2 million in EV rebates, including millions for buyers in its wealthiest towns. Now it’s making the checks bigger—even as recipients report they would have bought the cars anyway.

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Connecticut just raised its standard rebate for a new battery-electric vehicle by 50%, to $1,500 — no proof of financial need required. Drivers help fund the program through registration fees, while electric customers contribute through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a program designed to reduce carbon emissions that also adds costs to electric bills. Connecticut uses some of the auction money to subsidize EV purchases. 

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) put the increase into effect Oct. 15 through its Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate (CHEAPR) program. Its rebate records show approximately $53.2 million across 28,723 rebates, with applications submitted from May 2015 through Oct. 27, 2026. More than half — $29.9 million — went toward buying or leasing cars from one automaker: Tesla.  

 Millions in rebates have gone to applicants in ZIP codes serving some of Connecticut’s wealthiest towns. Based on those ZIP codes, the records show approximately $1.82 million for Greenwich, $1.30 million for Westport, $706,500 for New Canaan and $676,250 for Darien. 

Together, those four communities account for $4.50 million — nearly twice the $2.39 million for Hartford, Bridgeport and Waterbury combined. ZIP codes do not always match town boundaries, so these are estimates, not exact municipal totals. A town’s wealth does not establish an individual buyer’s income, but CHEAPR’s own survey provides a closer look at the households collecting rebates. 

CHEAPR’s latest annual report reveals that households making $300,000 or more accounted for 17% of battery-electric survey respondents in 2024 — the largest single income category. Their share was more than three times the 5% reported by households making less than $50,000. Altogether, 47% reported household incomes of at least $175,000. Connecticut is collecting money through registration fees and electricity costs to help buy cars for households bringing in several hundred thousand dollars a year. 

The report also found that 42% of battery-electric respondents and 61% of plug-in hybrid respondents in 2024 would have bought or leased their vehicles without the rebate. They were getting the car anyway; Connecticut picked up part of the tab. The voluntary survey drew responses from 28% of rebate recipients, so it does not describe every buyer. The report also does not connect individual respondents’ incomes with their answers about buying without the rebate. But buyers themselves reported collecting public money for purchases they did not need the state to encourage. 

DEEP’s explanation for the increase centers on falling demand for the rebates. The department says CHEAPR rebates dropped by 50% following the federal EV tax credit’s expiration, effective Oct. 1, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Its answer was to make the state check bigger, restoring the standard rebate to $1,500. Fewer people collecting a subsidy became the justification for offering a larger one. 

These checks have added up quickly. CHEAPR paid nearly $15 million for 6,699 rebates in 2024 and another $9.6 million for 5,792 rebates in 2025 — roughly $24.5 million toward vehicle purchases and leases in two years. That spending came before the latest increase, and it covered both purchases and leases. Connecticut is helping pay for cars recipients may return to the leasing company. 

Connecticut collected approximately $80.2 million from RGGI’s emissions-allowance auctions in 2024, but returned just 44% — $35.4 million — as direct electric-bill relief, according to the latest report. Meanwhile, roughly $9 million in RGGI money supported CHEAPR, as shown in the report’s spending breakdown. Lawmakers could redirect that funding toward electric bills rather than car purchases, giving relief to the customers bearing those costs—including people who will never collect an EV rebate. 

Drivers renewing the registration on a gasoline-powered car help fund EV rebates, too. Connecticut charges a greenhouse gas reduction fee when registering or renewing certain vehicles — $15 for a new car or $7.50 for a three-year registration of an existing one—and sends the entire collection to CHEAPR. Lawmakers made that change in 2022; previously, the program received the first $3 million each year, with the remainder going into the state’s General Fund. 

Those registration fees supply millions of dollars to the same program whose survey includes households making $300,000 or more. In its December 2025 CHEAPR board presentation, DEEP projected $7.2 million from the Department of Motor Vehicles and $5.9 million from RGGI for 2026 — a total of $13.1 million for rebates and administration. That was a forecast, but it shows how much the department expected to collect while drivers paid to keep their current cars registered. 

Keeping an older car running does not get you out of paying toward someone else’s new one. Neither does taking the bus: your electric bill still helps fund the rebates. Connecticut has made buying an EV optional and helping pay for one mandatory. 

Connecticut should end the purchase subsidies, eliminate the greenhouse gas reduction fee and put CHEAPR’s RGGI funding toward electric bills instead. Drivers would pay less to register their cars, and electricity customers would receive more bill relief. People should be able to register their own cars and pay for electricity without picking up part of someone else’s car payment. 

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