US State ‘Scrappage’ Programs Pay People to Turn in Gas Cars

Colorado drivers bought 9,446 electric vehicles in the most recent quarter, but Carrie Atiyeh is particularly psyched about 45 of them.

Atiyeh is one of the architects of the state’s Vehicle Exchange Program, which hands out a rebate of up to $6,000 to anyone who buys a new EV while surrendering a combustion-engine car. The program, which launched in late August, saw 45 people cash in a clunker by the end of September.

Scrappage policies like Colorado’s are gaining traction in the US as a two-for-one carbon bargain, a tidy way to catalyze clean-car purchases while canceling out some of the ...