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The state of Vermont has launched an incentive program that will help residents scrap and replace old gas cars with new or used eligible electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs).

The first of two phases of the Replace Your Ride program will help lower-income Vermont residents replace older, high-polluting light-duty vehicles with EVs or PHEVs.

Vermont transportation secretary Joe Flynn said:

The transportation sector accounts for about 40% of Vermont’s carbon emissions. The state is working to rapidly reduce these harmful emissions by providing incentives for Vermonters to switch to cleaner transportation options, and allowing those incentives to be combined with existing state and local utility programs for even greater cost-savings.

To qualify for the Replace Your Ride program, applicants must be Vermont residents listed on both the new EV purchase or lease agreement and the old vehicle registration. Incentives are currently available at the point of sale or lease and are limited to one per person for the life of the program.

State incentives are available on new vehicle purchases or leases of eligible models with a base MSRP of $40,000 or less for PHEVs and $45,000 or less for EVs. The participating dealer list is here.

Incentives of $3,000 are available on a first-come, first-served basis to income-eligible Vermont residents who hand in a gas car that’s at least 10 years old – that’s model year 2012 or older – and switch to a new or used plug-in electric vehicle. The clunker has to be able to start and drive at least 30 feet forward and in reverse under its own power. (More eligibility requirements can be found here.)

For example, the maximum income allowed for an individual filing as single or head of household for a new EV is $50,000 annual income or less, and for a used EV, it’s $51,968.

Vermont’s Replace Your Ride is funded with $4.5 million through the 2021 and 2022 Transportation Bills.

The $3,000 incentive can be stacked with one of the existing (new or used) incentives. Information on the other programs is available at the Drive Electric Vermont’s website. Drive Electric Vermont has a handy “Compare Models” tool to see which models qualify for which rebates.

In Replace Your Ride’s second phase, which will be launched by November 2, eligible applicants can receive a card preloaded with a $3,000 voucher to use on eligible clean transportation expenses at participating electric bike shops or for shared mobility options.

Vermont is the second US state to offer a scrap-and-replace program. California’s Clean Cars 4 All program is offered in four participating air districts – South Coast area including Los Angeles, San Joaquin Valley, Bay Area, and Sacramento area – in order to transition lower-income drivers from gas cars to electric vehicles. Depending on income, qualifying California residents can receive up to $9,500 toward the purchase of a new or used plug-in hybrid electric, battery electric, or fuel cell electric vehicle, or up to $7,500 in incentives to access public, private, and shared mobility options.

Electrek’s Take

Every single US state should be running an incentive program like this. It helps lower-income residents access cleaner, affordable transportation. If the car is more reliable, then it’s going to give the driver a leg up when it comes to getting to work and taking care of family, for example.

I recently spoke with a woman who runs a cleaning business. She lost a good employee because that person’s car is not reliable. This sort of incentive program would hopefully help alleviate that kind of problem.

There are many affordable EVs on the market, and these incentives will help spur interest.

In the meantime, I’m gonna just leave this tweet, which was posted by the Detroit Free Press and USA Today autos editor, right here, since it illustrates the myth of EVs not being affordable:

Read more: Vermont launches the first state e-bike incentive program in the US, plus other EV programs

Photo: State of Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development


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Tesla, Trump alliance falls apart – but there’s BIG news for electric semi fleets

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Tesla, Trump alliance falls apart – but there's BIG news for electric semi fleets

After a month off trying to wrap our heads around all the chaos surrounding EVs, solar, and everything else in Washington, we’re back with the biggest EV news stories of the day from Tesla, Ford, Volvo, and everyone else on today’s hiatus-busting episode of Quick Charge!

It just gets worse and worse for the Tesla true believers – especially those willing to put their money where Elon’s mouth is! One believer is set to lose nearly $50,000 betting on Tesla’s ability to deliver a Robotaxi service by the end of June (didn’t happen), and the controversial CEO’s most recent spat with President Trump had TSLA down nearly 5% in pre-morning trading.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple PodcastsSpotifyTuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

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Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.


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Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Hyundai is about to reveal a new EV and it could be the affordable IONIQ 2

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Hyundai is about to reveal a new EV and it could be the affordable IONIQ 2

Hyundai is getting ready to shake things up. A new electric crossover SUV, likely the Hyundai IONIQ 2, is set to debut in the coming months. It will sit below the Kona Electric as Hyundai expands its entry-level EV lineup.

Is Hyundai launching the IONIQ 2 in 2026?

After launching the Inster late last year, Hyundai is already preparing to introduce a new entry-level EV in Europe.

Xavier Martinet, President and CEO of Hyundai Europe, confirmed that the new EV will be revealed “in the next few months.” It will be built in Europe and scheduled to go on sale in mid-2026.

Hyundai’s new electric crossover is expected to be a twin to the Kia EV2, which will likely arrive just ahead of it next year.

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It will be underpinned by the same E-GMP platform, which powers all IONIQ and Kia EV models (EV3, EV4, EV5, EV6, and EV9).

Like the Kia EV3, it will likely be available with either a 58.3 kWh or 81.4 kWh battery pack option. The former provides a WLTP range of 267 miles while the latter is rated with up to 372 miles. All trims are powered by a single electric motor at the front, producing 201 hp and 209 lb-ft of torque.

Kia-EV2
Kia EV2 Concept (Source: Kia)

Although it may share the same underpinnings as the EV2, Hyundai’s new entry-level EV will feature an advanced new software and infotainment system.

According to Autocar, the interior will represent a “step change” in terms of usability and features. The new system enables new functions, such as ambient lighting and sounds that adjust depending on the drive mode.

Hyundai-IONIQ-2-EV
Hyundai E&E tech platform powered by Pleos (Source: Hyundai)

It’s expected to showcase Hyundai’s powerful new Pleos software and infotainment system. As an end-to-end software platform, Pleos connects everything from the infotainment system (Pleos Connect) to the Vehicle Operating System (OS) and the cloud.

Pleos is set to power Hyundai’s upcoming software-defined vehicles (SDVs) with new features like autonomous driving and real-time data analysis.

Hyundai-new-Pleos-OS
Hyundai’s next-gen infotainment system powered by Pleos (Source: Hyundai)

As an Android-based system, Pleos Connect features a “smartphone-like UI” with new functions including multi-window viewing and an AI voice assistant.

The new electric crossover is expected to start at around €30,000 ($35,400), or slightly less than the Kia EV3, priced from €35,990 ($42,500). It will sit between the Inster and Kona Electric in Hyundai’s lineup.

Hyundai said that it would launch the first EV with its next-gen infotainment system in Q2 2026. Will it be the IONIQ 2? Hyundai is expected to unveil the new entry-level EV at IAA Mobility in September. Stay tuned for more info. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.

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Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready

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Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it's almost ready

Tesla has unveiled its lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery cell factory in Nevada and claims that it is nearly ready to start production.

Like several other automakers using LFP cells, Tesla relies heavily on Chinese manufacturers for its battery cell supply.

Tesla’s cheapest electric vehicles all utilize LFP cells, and its entire range of energy storage products, Megapacks and Powerwalls, also employ the more affordable LFP cell chemistry from Chinese manufacturers.

This reliance on Chinese manufacturers is less than ideal and particularly complicated for US automakers and battery pack manufacturers like Tesla, amid an ongoing trade war between the US and virtually the entire world, including China.

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As of last year, a 25% tariff already applied to battery cells from China, but this increased to more than 80% under Trump before he paused some tariffs on China. It remains unclear where they will end up by the time negotiations are complete and the trade war is resolved, but many expect it to be higher.

Prior to Trump taking power, Tesla had already planned to build a small LFP battery factory in the US to avoid the 25% tariffs.

The automaker had secured older manufacturing equipment from one of its battery cell suppliers, CATL, and planned to deploy it in the US for small-scale production.

Tesla has now released new images of the factory in Nevada and claimed that it is “nearing completion”:

Here are a few images from inside the factory (via Tesla):

Previous reporting stated that Tesla aims to produce about 10 GWh of LFP battery cells per year at the new factory.

The cells are expected to be used in Tesla’s Megapack, produced in the US. Tesla currently has a capacity to produce 40 GWh of Megapacks annually at its factory in California. The company is also working on a new Megapack factory in Texas.

Ford is also developing its own LFP battery cell factory in Michigan, but this facility is significantly larger, with a planned production capacity of 35 GWh.

Electrek’s Take

It’s nice to see this in the US. LFP was a US/Canada invention, with Arumugam Manthiram and John B. Goodenough doing much of the early work, and researchers in Quebec making several contributions to help with commercialization.

But China saw the potential early and invested heavily in volume manufacturing of LFP cells and it now dominates the market.

Tesla is now producing most of its vehicles with LFP cells and all its stationary energy storage products.

It makes sense to invest in your own production. However, Tesla is unlikely to catch up to BYD and CATL, which dominate LFP cell production.

The move will help Tesla avoid tariffs on a small percentage of its Megapacks produced in the US. Ford’s effort is more ambitious.

It’s worth noting that both Ford’s and Tesla’s LFP plants were planned before Trump’s tariffs, which have had limited success in bringing manufacturing back to the US.

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