HVIP Set to Re-Open to Voucher Requests March 30, 2022

HVIP Set to Re-Open to Voucher Requests March 30

HVIP is set to re-open to voucher requests for standard HVIP funds at 10 a.m. Pacific on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. For FY21-22, $196.6 million is available for standard HVIP voucher requests. Additionally, the following set-aside funds will also become available at the same date and time.

1) $65.5 million for public transit buses
2) Approximately $46 million for class 8 tractors performing drayage operations
3) $122 million for the Public School Bus Set-Aside for Small and Medium Air Districts

Note: School bus requests that are NOT part of the school bus set-aside will be funded out of standard HVIP starting on March 30.

More information about each of these set-asides is included below. If set-aside funds are fully requested in any of these three set-aside categories, HVIP will continue to allow standard voucher requests for these categories pending funding availability.

Please note that an additional set-aside, the Innovative Small E-Fleets (ISEF) program, is set to open later this spring with $23.4 million. More information is available by contacting [email protected] and a public workgroup will be held March 3.

Please note that HVIP is allocated a total of $569.5 million for FY21-22. The available funding to be released in March accounts for nearly $60 million of early action funds already released in “wave 3” of HVIP funding in 2021, voucher requests on the existing drayage waitlist, and administrative funding. ​​​

FY21-22 Implementation Manual
The March 30 opening date and all implementation details are contingent on the release of the FY21-22 Implementation Manual (IM) by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This Manual will be released to all participants and stakeholders and published at californiahvip.org/im when available. Ahead of the IM’s release, please review important FAQs available now at californiahvip.org/about.

Funding Shortfall Provision
If the dollar value of all requests received for standard HVIP funds during the first 24 hours that HVIP is open is greater than the amount of available funds, funding will be assigned using a randomization process. After the first 24 hours, requests are first-come, first served. Requests for vehicles domiciled in Disadvantaged Communities will be prioritized first in the randomization. More information will be provided in the IM.

If demand for the drayage and/or transit set-asides exceeds available funds in the first 24 hours, requests will be randomized within each separate vehicle cohort. The other set-asides will not be randomized.

Funding will not be released in “waves” throughout the project year.

Dealer Training
Mandatory dealer training is underway for new and returning dealers, and for manufacturers fulfilling the role of dealers. New dealers requesting training must complete step 1 at californiahvip.org/sellers by March 16 and must fully complete their training by March 23. Returning dealers will be provided with updated materials addressing FY21-22 policy changes, and all dealers also must review the FAQs at californiahvip.org/about. Additional mandatory training related to changes to the online Voucher Processing Center is forthcoming. Please contact [email protected] with questions.

Vehicle Eligibility
Information about the vehicle eligibility process for manufacturers is at californiahvip.org/sellers.

Drayage Set-Aside and Waitlist
The FY21-22 Funding Plan for Clean Transportation Incentives set aside funds for class 8 tractors performing drayage operations, and to date $24 million has already been requested via a waitlist that started in fall 2021. Starting March 30, these requests will be funded first, and are not subject to randomization. No additional submissions will be accepted for the drayage waitlist after 10 a.m. Pacific on Monday, March 7. Starting when HVIP opens on March 30, requests for drayage vehicles will follow the standard voucher request process via the online Voucher Processing Center. Drayage requests on the waitlist will be subject to the FY21-22 Implementation Manual including the fleet voucher request cap.

Public School Bus Set-Aside for Small and Medium Air Districts
This set-aside is specifically available for public schools and other qualifying applicants located in small and medium-sized air districts. Voucher amounts will be significantly higher than standard HVIP voucher amounts, and are expected to cover the full cost of a new zero-emission school bus. School bus vehicles eligible for the higher voucher amount available in the set-aside will be labeled on the HVIP website before HVIP opens. Participating purchasers will also be required to scrap an old school bus in their fleet for each new school bus awarded.

Application Part A, the first of a two-part application process, will be accepted directly from qualifying applicants located in any small or medium-sized air district starting March 30. For the first 90 days, however, requests from applicants that are located in both a small air district AND in a disadvantaged community will be prioritized. Applicants will subsequently work with an HVIP-approved dealer who will submit Application Part B on their behalf.

Outreach is underway to eligible applicants in the priority group. More information is available by contacting [email protected].

A school bus working group will be held March 2 focusing on funding opportunities including this set-aside.

Purchase Orders
A valid signed Purchase Order (or other binding agreement) is required at the time a voucher request is made for standard HVIP funds and the drayage and transit set-asides.

Non-binding agreements are not sufficient. POs for private-entity non-drayage purchasers can be no older than 30 days prior to the date that HVIP re-opens (February 28 for March 30 open date). POs for public-entity purchasers and drayage purchasers can be no older than January 1, 2022.

The Public School Bus Set-Aside for Small and Medium Air Districts and the Innovative Small E-Fleets program have different purchase order requirements.

Please reach out to [email protected] for more information about HVIP’s re-opening.