Community & Environment > Clean & Renewable Energy > Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Electric Vehicles (EVs)

Tacoma Power makes owning an EV easy for customers

We believe in making owning EVs easy and affordable for all customers – that’s why we offer cost-effective solutions for EV owners in our community, provide resources to help you install chargers where you live, work, or play—all while providing clean, renewable hydropower to keep your machine lean and clean. Traveling in our service area? You can now charge throughout Tacoma and Pierce County for $0.21 per kilowatt hour. This new rate makes public charging about the same as spending $2.30/gallon on gas.

From streetside EV charging on light poles in Tacoma’s Neighborhood Business Districts to working with community members to install charging at multifamily properties and through other parts of our community, we are helping make charging more accessible.

We also invest in low-emission vehicles for our fleet, options for employees through ridesharing, and EV workplace charging on the TPU campus.

EV Tax Credits & Exemptions

Federal Tax Credit

A federal income tax credit up to $7,500 is available for the purchase of a qualifying plug-in electric vehicle or fuel cell electric vehicle. The Inflation Reduction Act f 2022 changed the rules for this credit for vehicles purchased from 2023-2032. Your eligibility for income tax credits depends on your personal tax situation. We recommend speaking with a tax professional for guidance.

Qualified vehicles must:

Have a battery capacity of at least 7 kilowatt hours
Have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds
Be made be a qualified manufacturer. Click here to see index of qualified manufacturers and vehicles.
- FCVs do not need to be made by a qualified manufacturer to be eligible. See Rev. Proc. 2022-42 for more detailed guidance.
Undergo final assembly in North America

The sale qualifies only if:

You buy the vehicle new
The seller reports required information to you at the time of sale and to the IRS.
- Sellers are required to report your name and taxpayer identification number to the IRS for you to be eligible to claim the credit.

In addition, the vehicle’s manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) can’t exceed:

$80,000 for vans, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks
$55,000 for other vehicles

To check online if a specific vehicle meetings the requirements for final assembly location, go to the Department of Energy’s page on Electric Vehicles with Final Assembly in North American and use the VIN Decoder tool under “Specific Assembly Location Based on VIN.”

Federal Tax Credit Info

EV Charger Hardware and Installation Incentive

The federal government offers a tax credit for EV charger hardware and EV charger installation costs. It covers 30% of the costs with a maximum $1,000 credit for residents and a $30,000 federal tax credit for commercial installs. And it’s retroactive, so you can still apply for installs made as early as 2017.

Federal Tax Credit Info

Washington State Tax Exemption for New and Used EVs

As of August 1, 2019 Washington State provides a sales and use tax exemption on sales or leases of certain electric passenger cars, light duty trucks and medium duty passenger vehicles – including used.

WA Sales Tax Exemption

EV Events

EV Community Outreach

During a typical season, our staff is out and about in the community talking about EVs. From Farmers Markets to local expos, you’ll find us at the Tacoma Power table. We hope you stop by and get your EV questions answered! Check out our EV events calendar to find the next opportunity to join us at an event.