Even California hasn’t reached the point where the state will try to force everyone to either buy an electric vehicle or take public transportation. (Yet.) But if you live in one of four counties in the southern part of the state near Los Angeles, they’re going to do their best to tempt you into getting an EV. How? The same way they push everything else on The Agenda. They’ll just write you a nice, fat check covered by Other People’s Money. The Air Quality Management District (AQMD) will send qualifying residents a check for up to $12,0000 if they purchase an electric vehicle this year. Finding a charging station is still left up to the owner. (CBS Los Angeles)

Air quality regulators are offering residents in Southern California thousands of dollars to buy an electric vehicle.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District — which oversees much of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties — will give eligible residents up to $12,000 to buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle after getting $40 million from the California Air Resources Board. Prior to the extra funding, residents could only receive $9,500.

According to South Coast AQMD, there are several specific criteria that applicants must fulfill in order to be eligible.

As noted above, this isn’t actually a “new” program. The AQMD was already offering checks of up to $9,500 to families or individuals that purchased a new electric vehicle. But there are significant income restrictions and time limitations on the program. They set up a website where people can figure out if they qualify. But even if your income falls into the required range, you have to keep the car for at least a year before you can apply. (This was apparently done to stop people from buying a car, taking the cash, and then returning the car.)

The income requirements are fairly restrictive. For example, a family of four must have a household income of less than $62,000 to be eligible for the maximum benefit. And in the greater Los Angeles area, that means you probably can’t even afford to pay the rent on an apartment, to say nothing of buying a new Tesla.

The reasons for all of these incentives and “free money” should be pretty obvious by now. As we’ve discussed here previously, most Americans are still not interested in buying an electric vehicle. One of the biggest drivers of this hesitation is the cost. EVs are expensive compared to their gas-powered counterparts offering similar features and capabilities. So, like pretty much everything to do with the green energy and climate change movement, the government looks for ways to artificially reduce the price, passing off the bill to the taxpayers.

But that’s not a sustainable system in the long run. As the old saying goes, sooner or later you’re going to run out of Other People’s Money. And then the real cost of electric vehicles, wind energy, and all the rest will sink in with some frightening sticker shock. But if the liberals can maintain control of power and drive most of the gas stations out of business, replacing them with often-dodgy charging stations, what other choices will there be? That more expensive future will simply be the “new normal” Honestly, I’m not sure how many more of these new normal situations the country can survive.