Hybrid Electric Vehicle - Legislation and Incentives - United States - States and Local

States and Local

  • Certain states (e.g., New York, California, Virginia, and Florida) allow singly occupied HEVs to enter the HOV lanes on the highway. Initially, the Federal Highway Administration ruled that this was a violation of federal statute until August 10, 2005, when George W. Bush signed the Transportation Equity Act of 2005 into law. In California, a total of 85,250 owners of the three eligible hybrid models benefited from free access to HOV lanes from 2004 to mid 2011. This incentive expired on July 1, 2011, and now hybrids are required to comply the minimum passenger requirements to use the HOV lanes.
  • Some states, e.g. California, exempt hybrid electric cars from the biennial smog inspection, which costs over $50 (as of 2004).
  • The city of San Jose, California issued a free parking tag until 2007 when it became issued for a fee annually for hybrid electric cars that were purchased at a San Jose dealership. The qualified owners do not have to pay for parking in any city garage or road side parking meters.
  • The city of Los Angeles, California offers free parking to all HEVs which started on 1 October 2004. The experiment is an extension to an existing offer of free parking for all pure electrical vehicles.
  • In October 2005, the city of Baltimore, Maryland, started to offer discount on monthly parking in the city parking lots, and is considering free meter parking for HEVs. On 3 November 2005, the Boston Globe reports that the city council of Boston is considering the same treatment for hybrid electric cars.
  • Annual vehicle registration fees in the District of Columbia are half ($36) that paid for conventional vehicles ($72).

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