The i-MiEV Rebate Check is (Finally) in the Mail

So, what's happened in the months since the last post?  Not too much.  There was this one other thing that happened, but that will have to be a separate blog after I review some data and calculate some values.

The BIG thing that was worth breaking silence: The Illinois state rebate check arrived on Monday, July 29th!

Timing of Vehicle Rebate Issuance
The Illinois EPA processes Vehicle Rebate applications twice per year.  Applications that are postmarked February 1 – June 30 will be processed starting July 1.  Applications postmarked July 1 – January 31 will be processed starting February 1.  Please note that, due to the significant number of applications we receive and the need to request additional information from some applicants, it may take up to five months after the processing starting date to complete the review and rebate issuances for all eligible applications.  In addition, the timing of rebate issuances is dependent on funding availability in the Alternate Fuels Fund.

Vehicle Rebate Amounts

• ... the amount of the rebate is 10 percent of the base retail price of the vehicle as reflected on the MSRP (“base MSRP”), not including add-on equipment options, up to $4,000. At the current time, the only vehicles in which the 10 percent of the base MSRP is used to establish the rebate amount are electric vehicles.
  

Visit http://www.illinoisgreenfleets.org/fuels/vehicle_info.html for full information about the rebate program.

Short Summary and Conclusion

I purchased my i-MiEV on August 22, 2012.  The application requires the license plate number for submission.  Therefore I had to wait until the new plates arrived before I could submit my application.  It was submitted well before the January 31 deadline.  The state would have started processing applications on February 1.  Instead of 5 months, I was really hoping for something closer to 5 weeks.  So by the beginning of July I was really starting to wonder if the state had run out of money.  I wanted to see what experiences other owners might be having.  My fear was maybe I had not filled out my paperwork correctly and my application had already become recycled paper.  After some searching, I came across members on the Tesla forum discussing IL state rebates.  One entry gave the name of a person to contact.  The individual wound up being the Manager for the Clean Air Programs for the IL EPA.  How often do you find valuable information like that?

On July 18th, I sent an email to Darwin asking about the status of the rebate.  The next morning I received an reply stating the a check should arrive within 3 weeks.  The NEXT MORNING!  That's terrific when correspondence receives such a quick response.  Ten days later, the check was waiting for me at home.