Electric Vehicle Charging Station Financing Program |
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Loans enrolled in the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Financing Program can be used for the design, development, purchase, and installation of electric vehicle charging stations at small business locations in California.
Funded by the California Energy Commission, the California Capital Access Program (CalCAP) may provide up to 100% coverage to lenders on certain loan defaults. Borrowers may be eligible to receive a rebate of 10-15% of the enrolled loan amount.
Eligible Uses of Loan Proceeds
Loans in the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Financing Program (EVCS) can be used for the design, development, purchase, and installation of qualified electric vehicle charging stations in the State of California. The charging station must be accessible to the business owner’s employees, the general public, or to the tenants of a multi-unit dwelling.
The charging station must also meet certain technical requirements which the borrower must certify to on the loan enrollment application.
Terms
The maximum enrolled loan amount is $500,00 per qualified borrower, and can be insured for up to four years (though the actual term of the loan can be longer). Lenders set the terms and conditions of the loans and decide which loans to enroll into the EVCS Program. The EVCS Program contributes 20% of the principal balance enrolled to a loss reserve account. CalCAP will contribute an additional 10%, up to a maximum of 30%, if the installation is in a multi-unit dwelling or located in a disadvantaged community as designated in the CalEnviroScreen 2.0.
Loans can be short or long-term, have fixed or variable rates, be secured or unsecured, and bear any type of amortization schedule.
Eligible Lenders
Any federal or state-chartered bank, savings association, certified Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), or credit union is eligible to participate in CalCAP. A lender must certify that it is in good standing with its regulatory body (Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Comptroller of Currency, Thrift Supervision, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), or state banking authority). Finance Lenders and others may also be eligible.
How The Program Works
Borrower
- Business applies to a Participating Financial Institution for a loan.
- After business repays the loan, or after 48 months with no more than one 30 day late payment, the borrower is eligible for a rebate of half the enrolled contribution amount.
- Example: on a $10,000 loan for a charging station in a multi-unit dwelling, the EVCS Program will contribute $3,000 to a lender's loan loss reserve program to cover any loan defaults in their portfolio of loans. After the borrower successfully repays the loan, or after 48 months with no more than one 30 day late payment, the borrower will receive a rebate of $1,500 (half of the loan loss reserve contribution).
Lender
- Applies to the California Pollution Control Financing Authority (CPCFA) to participate in CalCAP.
- Enrolls each loan with CalCAP.
- At the time of loan enrollment approval, CPCFA pays a contribution into the lender’s loan loss reserve account. The contribution is 20% of the loan amount with an additional 10% for installations at multi-unit dwellings and in disadvantaged communities. Loan enrollment applications must be received at CPCFA within 15 business days of the “Date of First Disbursement” (Date of Loan).
- If a qualified claim is requested, CPCFA approves up to 100% of the claim or the amount of the lender’s loss reserve balance, whichever is less.
- For Borrowers eligible for a rebate, the rebate will be funded from the lenders loan loss reserve account.
How the Loss Reserve Account Grows
When a lender's first loan is enrolled, CPCFA establishes a loss reserve account for that lender. Each time a subsequent loan is enrolled, CPCFA contributes to the loss reserve account.
The more loans a lender makes and enrolls, the more dollars are deposited into the lender's loss reserve account to cover potential losses and rebates.
Eligible Small Businesses
- The borrower is a small business defined as: a company, corporation, partnership, firm, or other entity or group of entities that together with its affiliates, has 1,000 or fewer employees.
- The borrower has legal control of the EVCS installation site for a term that is equal to or greater than the length of the enrolled loan.
- The EVCS installation is located within the boundaries of the State of California.