STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 4899

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Assemblyman BENSON)

ADOPTED: MARCH 25, 2021

      These floor amendments revise the provisions of this bill that provide for the expansion of the State’s plug-in electric vehicle incentive program to include incentives for plug-in electric motorcycles.  The amendments provide that incentives offered for eligible motorcycles are to be limited to a maximum amount of $1,000 per eligible motorcycle.  The amendments additionally clarify that the amount of the incentive for an eligible motorcycle does not need to be equal to $25 per mile of EPA-rated electric-only range, as is required for light duty vehicle incentives in the first year of program operation, but is, instead, to be calculated in a manner deemed appropriate by the board. 

      The existing law at P.L.2019, c.362 (C.48:25-1 et seq.) provides for incentives under the electric vehicle incentive program to be offered only for eligible light duty vehicles.  The current law excludes two-wheeled and three-wheeled motorcycles from the statutory definitions of both “light duty vehicle” and “eligible vehicle.”  These amendments would revise the applicable statutory definitions in this area, and make appropriate changes to the substantive text, in order to ensure that the provisions of the law and bill appropriately reference, cover, and distinguish between “light duty plug-in electric vehicles” and “plug-in electric motorcycles.”  The amendments additionally clarify that the generic term “plug-in electric vehicle” includes both light duty plug-in electric vehicles and plug-in electric motorcycles. 

      The amendments further clarify that an “eligible light duty vehicle” (i.e., a light duty vehicle that is eligible for an incentive under the program) is any new light duty plug-in electric vehicle that has an MSRP below $55,000, is purchased or leased after the effective date of P.L.2019, c.362, and is registered in New Jersey, while an “eligible motorcycle” is any new plug-in electric motorcycle that has an MSRP below $30,000, is purchased or leased after the effective date of this bill, and is registered in New Jersey.  The amendments eliminate prior amendatory language that would have conflated the terminology related to eligible light duty vehicles and eligible motorcycles. 

      In order to ensure that the program’s expanded purpose and scope are clear to the reader and are described, up-front, in a single subsection, the amendments would move, from subsection f. to subsection a. of section 1 of the bill, the provision of the bill that requires eligible motorcycles to be included in the electric vehicle incentive program.  The amendments would also delete the remaining provisions of subsection f. of section 1 of the bill, which are redundant with other provisions of the section and are unnecessary in light of the other changes being made by these amendments.

      Finally, the amendments make minor technical changes to simplify language, alphabetize definitions, and correct punctuation.