Announcing that Year Three of its Charge Up New Jersey Program was expected to expend its Fiscal Year 2023 funds April 17, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) offered a progress update on the initiative, which provides an incentive of up to $4,000 at the time of the purchase or lease of a new electric vehicle (EV).

The NJBPU says that by the close of the program an estimated $35 million will have been disbursed this year to support the purchases of more than 10,000 new EVs in the Garden State. And because it estimates that the initiative’s FY23 funding will be committed by sales, orders and leases made through April 17, Charge Up New Jersey was paused as of 9 p.m. Monday.

Year Three of the program launched point-of-sale incentives at showrooms and dealerships last July. At the end of the 2022, there were more than 91,000 vehicles on New Jersey roadways, and EV’s made up 8% percent of all new car sales for the year.

In total, the NJBPU anticipates that the program will have provided more than $90 million in incentives for the lease or purchase of nearly 25,000 EVs since it launched in May 2020.

To qualify for the Year Three Charge Up incentive, New Jersey residents had to order, purchase or lease an eligible EV in the state on or after July 25, 2022, and before the pause of the program Monday night.

“The Charge Up New Jersey Program has been one of the great success stories of the Murphy Administration,” said NJBPU President Joseph Fiordaliso in a press release. “As we fight the ravages of climate change it is increasingly important to dramatically reduce the greenhouse gases generated by gas guzzling cars and encourage New Jerseyans to drive electric. The Charge Up Program has been an incredibly popular incentive that has put more electric vehicles on New Jersey roadways.”

The NJBPU also notes that the Charge Up Residential Charger Rebate remains active and unaffected by this pause.

More details on Charge Up New Jersey can be found here.