NY DRIVE - New York Direct Resident Incentive for Vehicle Electrification
NY DRIVE provides up to 12,000 miles a year of free driving to low and moderate-income electric vehicle (EV) drivers in the form of direct monthly cash incentives of up to $50/mo. This incentivizes drivers to acquire a used or new EV and shift their vehicle miles away from gasoline.
With a hyperlocal community partner program, NY DRIVE provides marketing grants to 75-100 organizations to reach disadvantaged communities throughout the state. These groups know their communities best, and will directly interface with residents. The program will provide an NY-based, multilingual call center to educate and support the EV journey.
Incentives are paid directly to participants, enrollment takes less than 10 minutes, and NY DRIVE uses telematics and/or odometer data to verify shift to electric vehicle miles. Incentives are open to any low/moderate-income New Yorker, regardless of location, though marketing efforts will focus on identified communities.
Our solution is to bring together entities who are not otherwise collaborating, bring grant and incentive opportunities to small community organizations who are usually unable to participate in large grant Requests for Proposals (RFP's), and spread awareness and education via targeted communication and direct incentives. By overcoming barriers felt by low-income residents in disadvantaged communities, we will provide them with a cleaner version of the most flexible transportation method available. This drives economic mobility, access to a greater variety of food, better healthcare, and many other social determinants of health and well-being. The short-term impact is immediate delivery of incentive funds invested directly in individuals. The long-term impact is increased awareness and trust to support the existing interest many residents already have in EV's. The program will enroll 3,500 EV drivers through the 100 participating community partner organizations (i.e., an average 35 EVs per community over three years) which will make EVs a more visible part of the community transportation ecosystems. We know that word of mouth will support the continued education about and access to Electric Vehicles.