States and local governments can also provide direct financial incentives for infrastructure investment. These are often in the form of tax incentives or rebates.  Key considerations for policymakers considering providing incentives may include what sort of infrastructure would qualify (residential or commercial, as well as size and speed of charging station), how to apply the incentive (through cash rebates or tax incentives), who can claim the credit (individuals or also large commercial developers), the amount of the credit and whether to have it adjust by charging station size or type, and whether to set and program limits on total incentives distributed.

Policymakers may also wish to consider how financial credits can be designed such that non-owners (e.g., residents of multi-unit dwellings) can take advantage of credits.  In many areas, EV ownership is a requirement to receive financial credits for infrastructure.  However, EV owners who rent may be unwilling (or not allowed) to pay for the installation of a charging station if they would not own that station, while a landlord that would be interested in making such an investment would not be the owner of the EV and thus ineligible for the credit. Policymakers could consider designing incentives to account for this situation by allowing owners of residential rental properties to receive infrastructure credits under certain conditions.

One emerging opportunity for state and local investment in charging infrastructure is the funding available under the Volkswagen Settlement, which partially resolves allegations that VW and various affiliates utilized “defeat devices” that allowed its vehicles to emit more than allowed under the Clean Air Act. This settlement, among other provisions, requires VW to invest $2 billion to advance ZEVs and ZEV infrastructure (“Appendix C”) and fund a $2.95 billion mitigation trust fund that states can tap into to make investments to reduce NOx emissions (“Appendix D”), 15 percent of which can be spent on EV infrastructure, including charging infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles.  VW will begin investments under Appendix C through its independent subsidiary Electrify America as soon as summer of 2018, and states have already started designing and submitting plans for EV infrastructure development under Appendix D.