New York has already taken some steps to reduce its transportation-related greenhouse-gas emissions, though offering cash or tax breaks to plug-in vehicle buyers hasn’t been one of them yet. The state is home to more than 1,200 publicly accessible charging stations, up from fewer than a dozen seven years ago. New York has also said it aimed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent within the next 15 years and by 80 percent by 2050. Some New York City taxis are going the plug-in vehicle route, while New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has committed to swapping out 2,000 municipal vehicles for plug-ins, according to Green Car Reports.
Additionally, in 2013, the state joined seven others that said they would collectively have 3.3 million zero-emissions vehicles on their roads by 2025 New York is home to just 15,000 plug-ins now, so there’s a lot of work to be done. The other states are California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Not included among that group is Minnesota, which is notable because that state is also considering enacting a green-car rebate, Green Car Reports says. Minnesota is considering offering $2,500 for battery-electric vehicles and $1,500 for plug-in hybrids. That state made news in these parts a couple years back by requiring that utilities offer off-peak rates, ostensibly to make it cheaper for plug-in vehicle owners to recharge their cars at home.
