Sell More Clean-Air
Trucks and Buses

Dealers must be HVIP-approved to be able to submit voucher requests on behalf of their customers. Any dealer or manufacturer who sells HVIP-eligible technologies should pre-register to begin the training process.

A Voucher Processing Center (VPC) account may be deactivated if a dealer has not logged in for over 365 days. If you believe your VPC login has been deactivated, please reach out to [email protected]. The program administrators will likely require that you pass the HVIP Dealer Quiz before your eligibility status is updated.

You should reach out to [email protected]. A VPC account may be deactivated if a dealer has not logged in for over 365 days. We can help you restore access.

To submit a voucher request, an eligible dealer needs only a Purchase Order that makes clear that HVIP funding would be applied. The documents needed for redemption of an HVIP vehicle voucher can be found in the HVIP Voucher Redemption Checklist.

When HVIP is open to requests, the dealer and purchaser will be notified via email when a voucher request has been submitted. The initial review of the voucher by the Voucher Processing Center team will start. Then dealers and purchasers will be notified whether funding is set aside for the request or whether funding is unavailable due to first-come first-served demand triggering the randomization process.

No, you cannot. There should be no sharing of VPC logins within a dealership. Up to three individuals at dealerships can become HVIP-trained: this would allow for multiple individuals to sign off on paperwork for the same voucher and would allow for each dealer to submit and track voucher requests on the VPC.

It is strongly recommended that a dealership/organization dedicate one person to understanding HVIP’s policies/procedures/processes rather than multiple people.  Organizations with one HVIP point-person experience less issues brought to CARB’s attention, repeat offenses and voucher cancelations.

It is against HVIP policy to provide funding for vehicles that are delivered/paid for ahead of voucher request. If a vehicle is paid for/delivered ahead of voucher request, the vehicle dealer and purchaser can appeal to CARB to allow for an exception. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Vehicle eligibility is handled by the California Air Resources Board. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

Yes, conversions of trucks and buses from internal combustion to hybrid and zero-emission can be funded through HVIP. Please refer to the Voucher Funding Tables for more information.

HVIP was created to reduce price barriers, enabling fleets to adopt more clean heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Created by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2009, HVIP provides point-of-sale discount vouchers that reduce the purchase cost of vehicles operated in the State of California. HVIP vouchers make zero-emission and Low NOx buses and trucks as affordable as their traditional fossil-fueled counterparts at point of sale and reduce prices for medium- and heavy-duty hybrid vehicles. Funded vehicles include parcel, beverage, and food-distribution trucks, transit buses, shuttle buses, and more.

The goal of HVIP is to accelerate and facilitate the adoption of low-emitting hybrid, low NOx, and zero-emission trucks and buses. These vehicles are relatively new technologies and are therefore more expensive than traditional vehicles, especially in the early market years when production volumes are low. CARB recognizes that these vehicles have the proven ability to reduce criteria and greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutants in California and aims to accelerate the penetration of these cleaner vehicles to help meet state clean air regulations and climate change goals. HVIP is part of the California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that invests Cap and Trade dollars.

For standard HVIP and the drayage and transit set-asides, vouchers are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis unless a randomization process is needed if funds are subscribed within the first 24 hours that HVIP is open only.

The Public School Bus Set-Aside for Small and Medium Air Districts has different rules; please contact and [email protected].

Funding status is confirmed shortly after submission with no uncertainty regarding securing funding, and no lengthy application or bid process. HVIP is a streamlined funding mechanism that is set up for ease of use by end-users. Dealers, not purchasers, are responsible for securing HVIP funding – fleet owners do not need to gain an understanding of the voucher process to receive the full benefits of HVIP funding. A list of participating dealers can be found in the HVIP Eligible Vehicles Catalog.

Sign up for the California HVIP e-mail list by filling out the form: Contact Us.

Please email [email protected] or call the HVIP toll-free hotline at 888-457-HVIP.

After the first 24 hours of HVIP opening, the Available Funding table on the website lists how much money is available. This reflects the funds based on the vouchers requested to-date as long as funds remain. All voucher participants will be notified of which funding pots are open through the website, email, and VPC notifications.

All HVIP-eligible vehicles can be found in the clean vehicle catalog. If you think a vehicle is eligible, but do not see it listed, please send an email to [email protected].

CARB recognizes that battery size is the largest determinant of battery-electric vehicle cost, therefore HVIP has simplified the voucher tables to one single voucher table based on vehicle weight rating. The incentive amounts are accompanied by voucher modifiers to support unique fleets (public transit and school districts) as well as costlier vehicle bodies. 

HVIP vouchers may be combined or “stacked” with other eligible public incentives (and other types of discretionary funding), with the provision that HVIP will only fund the remaining cost up to the maximum voucher amount after the other incentives have been applied at their maximum allowable amounts.

Specifically, for privately owned vehicles, the total voucher amount including HVIP Base Vehicle Incentive plus voucher enhancements, plus all other eligible public incentives – or other discretionary public funding such as grants –  may not exceed 90 percent of the total vehicle purchase price (excluding taxes and fees). For publicly owned vehicles, including public school buses, public transit buses, and municipal vehicles, the sum of HVIP and other eligible public funding may not exceed the full vehicle cost excluding taxes and fees.

Local incentives that may be combined with HVIP include programs administered by local air districts or local municipalities that are locally funded. AB 923 funds administered by local air districts may also be combined with HVIP for school buses only. Examples of programs funded by local air districts and not the State that CAN be stacked with HVIP include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Sacramento Metropolitan AQMD’s Sacramento Emergency Clean Air & Transportation (SECAT) Grant Program
• South Coast AQMD’s Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) grants
• Bay Area AQMD’s Mobile Source Incentive Fund and Transportation Fund for Clean Air
• San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s Heavy-Duty Truck Replacement Program
• San Diego County Air Pollution Control District Zero Emission Truck Pilot Project

Federal incentives may be combined with HVIP vouchers, including funding provided by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the Department of Energy (DOE), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other federal agencies.

Small fleet stacking:

Small fleets of 20 or fewer vehicles can stack with state incentive programs, so long as the other program allows stacking, each incentive program is not paying for the same incremental cost, and the non-HVIP incentive program is not required to generate greenhouse gas emission reductions. Programs that can now be stacked with HVIP for small fleets ONLY include but are not limited to:

• CARB Truck Loan Assistance Program
• Goods Movement Emission Reduction Program (Prop 1B Program)
• The Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program (Moyer): The Moyer Program may be stacked for small fleets scrapping and replacing their heavy-duty trucks through the On-Road Heavy-Duty Voucher Incentive Program AND through Moyer Chapter 4: On-Road Heavy-Duty Vehicles for transit, but not for other vehicle types. The Moyer award must be confirmed before applying for HVIP, because HVIP requires a binding P.O. in order to submit a voucher request, while Moyer does not permit a P.O. to be placed until AFTER the Moyer award is issued.

For fleets with more than 20 vehicles, stacking HVIP with State-funded incentives is prohibited, with the exception of public transit buses and the Clean Mobility Options program as described below.

Transit stacking:

Transit buses operated by or on behalf of a city or county government; a transportation district / transit district; or a public agency, including paratransit and microtransit services, may stack State-funded incentives with HVIP regardless of fleet size, with the provision that HVIP will only fund the remaining cost up to the maximum voucher amount after the other incentives have been applied at their maximum allowable amounts. Examples of State programs that can stack for transit:

• Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP)
• Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) For school/shuttle bus VW funds, administered by SJVAPCD, the VW award must be confirmed before applying for HVIP, because HVIP requires a binding P.O. in order to submit a voucher request, while VW does not permit a P.O. to be placed until AFTER the VW award is issued.
• Zero-Emission Class 8 VW funds are administered by SCAQMD. This category includes trucks with a GVWR greater than 33,000 lbs (Freight Trucks, Drayage Trucks, Refuse)

Other stacking:

• The Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust (VW) may be stacked with HVIP for fleets of any size for eligible vehicles in VW’s Zero-Emission Transit, School, and Shuttle Bus and Zero-Emission Class 8 Freight and Drayage Trucks categories. VW has a scrap requirement, requiring applicants to scrap a 2012 or older model year engine.
• HVIP may fund or co-fund vehicles that are part of CARB’s Clean Mobility Options (CMO) program, at CARB’s sole discretion. Please contact [email protected] for more information. HVIP’s contribution will not exceed the total of the voucher amount for each eligible vehicle.

Prohibited from stacking:

State-funded incentive programs that MAY NOT be combined with HVIP for any vehicle types include:

• Low Carbon Transportation Investments, except for CMO as indicated above

For stacking requirements for ISEF and ZESBI, see Appendices F and G respectively, at www.californiahvip.org/im.

No, they are not. The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project provides incentives for the purchase or lease of new, eligible zero-emission vehicles, including electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell vehicles.

A DAC is a Census-designated area that is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of socioeconomic and geographic factors. HVIP provides increased incentives for fleets domiciled within disadvantaged communities. The value of this “plus up” varies by vehicle type and increases for larger vehicles, and there are other requirements as listed in the “Community Specific Incentive” space on this page.

Effective 7/21/23, HVIP defines DAC eligibility as a vehicle domicile address in any of the following areas of the map at https://webmaps.arb.ca.gov/PriorityPopulations/:

• Disadvantaged Communities (Yellow area on map legend)
• Disadvantaged and Low Income Communities (Green; yellow AND blue area on map legend)
• Low Income Communities within ½ mile of a Disadvantaged Community (Crosshatched purple area on map legend) and
• Low Income Households within ½ mile of a Disadvantaged Community (Crosshatched grey area on map legend)

Answers to frequently asked questions for the current fiscal year can be found in the HVIP FAQs.