GRID Alternatives is helping families save money on transportation while improving air quality.
As part of GRID Alternatives’ vision of a transition to clean, renewable energy that includes everyone, we are part of a new initiative to make clean vehicles and other clean transportation options more accessible to the communities we serve.
Clean Cars for All
Clean Cars for All is an incentive program offered to lower income residents in the Bay Area. The program provides grants to help residents retire their older vehicle and replace it with a cleaner car or transit option: a plug-in hybrid vehicle , battery electric vehicle, standard hybrid vehicle, or a preloaded transit card. Participants can purchase a new or used vehicle, or lease a new vehicle with a grant that can total up to $9,500.
GRID Alternatives Bay Area walks applicants through the application process step-by-step and helps people identify which cleaner transportation option might be best for them. Grants are sent by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to partner car dealerships to directly reduce point-of-purchase price to avoid the delays and complications that after-purchase rebates can present to lower income car buyers.
Why transition to clean?
California has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Clean cars are necessary to meet these goals. Underserved communities are essential in accelerating clean vehicle adoption and can benefit the most from the clean air and cost-saving benefits they provide.
Air Quality and Climate Change
Car exhaust contaminates our air and contributes to climate change. Communities of color are disproportionately impacted by pollution from both gasoline consumption and gasoline production. In California, the transportation sector is the largest source of emissions, accounting for nearly 50 percent of emissions. Emissions and climate change impact underserved communities first and worst because they tend to live near busy roads and freeways, exposing them to dangerous levels of emissions. This exposure leads to higher rates of asthma, cancer, and other pollution-related illnesses, increased health costs and more missed school and work days.
Fuel and Maintenance Savings
Drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles save money because electricity is significantly cheaper than gas. These cars also have fewer moving parts, requiring less maintenance than gas or diesel engines. In California, dollars saved at the pump by charging up on electricity stay in California and can create 16 times more jobs than money spent on gasoline. Low income homeowners that qualify for GRID’s solar program can also enjoy free fuel for an electric or plug-in vehicle through our no-cost solar program.
For more information on electric vehicles and equity, visit The Greenlining Institute’s Electric Vehicles for All: An Equity Toolkit.
Apply Now
Find out if you qualify for a cash grant to scrap and replace your car with a cleaner and more reliable car. Apply today.
Bay Area clean mobility programming is sponsored in part by Waymo.