California Waives EV Rebate Price Caps for Rivian and Lucid, Excludes Tesla
California's new $3,500 EV rebate waives price caps specifically for Rivian and Lucid, letting buyers of $58,000+ models qualify — while Tesla remains excluded from the waiver.
News · 1 min read · Published 27 July 2026
Written by Jake Sullivan, US Cars Editor
Highlights
- California's $3,500 EV rebate now waives price caps specifically for Rivian and Lucid
- Rivian's cheapest model is around $58,000 and Lucid's around $71,000 — both now qualify despite typical rebate price limits
- Tesla does not qualify for this specific waiver
California's new $3,500 EV rebate favors Rivian and Lucid over Tesla, according to Electrek's coverage of the policy change — Rivian and Lucid qualify for the rebate without price caps, despite their cheapest models running around $58,000 and $71,000 respectively, while Tesla does not qualify for this specific waiver.
A state-level incentive that explicitly favors two smaller EV makers over the segment's largest seller is a meaningful policy signal, and comes at a moment when Rivian has just raised its full-year delivery outlook following a strong second quarter, while Tesla's own Q2 deliveries, though topping expectations at 480,126 units, have coincided with a notable stock slide.
This kind of localized incentive design shows how state-level EV policy is increasingly being used to shape competitive dynamics within the segment, not just to broadly encourage EV adoption regardless of brand.