California Air Resources Board

Project Goals and History

The Driving Clean Assistance Program is one of CARB's suite of equity projects that provides financial resources to help lower-income Californians purchase advanced clean vehicles. The project offers vehicle price buy-downs (grants) at the point of sale, guarantees fair financing through lower-interest loans, and provides home charger incentives or portable chargers and prepaid charge cards where there are home charger installation barriers.

Financing Assistance for Lower-Income Consumers: DCAP's Predecessor

The Financing Assistance for Lower-Income Consumers Program operated from 2015 to 2024 and was designed to help lower-income Californians overcome the significant barrier of obtaining vehicle financing. It improved access to affordable clean new and used vehicles through low-cost loans and vehicle price buy-downs.

The first pilot program, named the Drive Clean Assistance Program (DCAP), launched in 2016 and served twelve counties in Northern California. This program adopted a high-touch approach, helping qualified low-income applicants navigate the approval process for receiving purchase price buy-downs and low-interest loans. In 2018, CARB launched the statewide version of the pilot program, called the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program (CVAP), which offered financing assistance benefits at the state level.

In these pilot phases, the program offered incentives that included vehicle price buy-downs (grants) at the point of sale, guaranteed fair financing through low-interest loans, home charger installation or portable chargers, and prepaid charge cards where there were barriers to home charger installation.

Through different fiscal years, about $53 million from different funding sources were allocated to these pilot programs which helped to pay for about 5,600 vehicle grants and 3,500 electric vehicle chargers and secured 355 low-interest loans through lending partners. More up to date information and program data can be found at CARB’s Incentive Program Insights data dashboard.

Formation of the Driving Clean Assistance Program

DCAP – formerly referred to as the Joint Financing Assistance and Statewide Clean Cars 4 All (CC4A) Program – was initially introduced to the public in the Proposed Fiscal Year 2021-22 Funding Plan for Clean Transportation Incentives. The concept stemmed from lessons learned from CVAP and a previous iteration of the Driving Clean Assistance Program (DCAP), stakeholder and legislative interest in expanding CC4A, and feedback from stakeholders who stated that CARB incentive pathways and eligibility requirements are difficult to navigate and thus called for streamlining CARB’s portfolio of incentive programs. CARB has since selected the Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) to administer the new DCAP program, which enables expansion of CC4A to regions of the state that are currently not served by the five largest air districts and expands access to Financing Assistance statewide. CARB, stakeholders, and Air Districts continue to collaborate in partnership to ensure that continuous coverage and access remains for participants regardless of geographic limitations.

Guiding Legislation and Policy Drivers

Senate Bill (SB) 1275 directs CARB to establish financing assistance projects for lower-income consumers. This project supports the statutory goals of SB 1275 and SB 350 recommendations by prioritizing funds for clean transportation and mobility options. This is accomplished by implementing programs that expand the new and used vehicle ownership programs with point-of sale incentives (price buy-downs) and low-cost loans; increasing awareness of clean transportation and mobility options by educating consumers of clean transportation options and infrastructure investments; and incentivizing charging infrastructure for lower-income residents.

Project Funding

*The $14.5 million remaining from the FY 2021-22 allocation was added to the solicitation for the new statewide Financing Assistance program that replaced the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program and the Driving Clean Assistance Program.

Funding Breakdown

Recent Project/Policy Changes

• Transitioning from a first-come, first-serve model to a need-based approach where consumers with certain criteria will be prioritized in application processing and assistance.
• Applied purchase price cap of $45,000

Project Information and Reports

•  https://cleanvehiclegrants.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2021-CVAP-Report.pdf