EV Resources in Gorge Counties

(last update May 2026)

Shop for new EVs

•       EV dealers in Portland and The Dalles

•       Electric for All

Shop for used EVs (300,000 coming off lease in 2026 & 600,000 in 2027)

•       Platt Automotive in Portland

•       Carvana

•       Carmax

Free charger maps & info: Plugshare.com

Sign up for fast-charger networks: Tesla, Electrify America, ChargePoint, EVCS, etc.

Adapters: CCS to/from NACS, J1772 to CCS or NACS, various 240-volt plugs to NEMA 14-50, 50-amp extension cord 

Electrifying your house for EVs--and everything else CGCAN

Financial Incentives

EV purchase incentives

Oregon: Oregon Clean Vehicle and Charge Ahead Rebate Program can save up to $7500 on the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle. Depends on the MSRP, income, and funds available.

Washington: state sales and use tax exemption for qualifying new and used EVs:

• New EVs priced at $45,000 or less qualify for a tax exemption on up to $15,000 of the vehicle price
• Used EVs priced at $30,000 or less qualify for a tax exemption on up to $16,000

EV charger purchase incentives

Federal: Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit until June 30, 2026; up to $1000 for residential chargers (low-income households)

Pacific Power: charger rebates for multifamily properties and businesses, and grants for electric vehicle charging infrastructure to non-residential customers in Oregon.

Time of use electricity 

Pacific Power: on-peak (5-9 pm): 28 cents/kWh and 10 cents/kWh off-peak

Planning for an EV

It’s efficient to evolve a list of must-haves, should-haves, and nice-to-haves when shopping for a major item. For EVs today, the salient options generally include:

  • BEV vs PHEV: A battery electric vehicle (BEV) is 100% electric—basically a big battery powering one or two electric drive motors. A pluggable hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) has a smaller battery that runs an electric motor for ~20-60 miles, suitable for most daily trips, plus a conventional gasoline engine for longer trips. Both types feature efficient regenerative braking (charging the battery when going downhill or braking.) A PHEV is different from a hybrid vehicle, which has a gasoline engine and an even smaller battery for regenerative braking; and that battery cannot be charged from a supply of electricity.    

  • Size: There are plenty of sizes and vehicle categories to consider, from a small electric Fiat e500 through mid-size sedans and SUVs, full-size sedans and SUVs, pickups, and vans. Of course, your size target will depend on the number of passengers or sizes of things you’re hauling. The size will be the most important factor in the vehicle’s weight; and like any vehicle, the energy efficiency decreases with increasing vehicle weight.

  • Drive train: rear-, front-, or all-wheel drive. For handling on snow or ice, even some rear-wheel drive EVs handle amazingly well, but front-wheel drive is better and of course all-wheel drive is best.

  • Range: Most new models will have a quoted range of 300 miles or more. This is an EPA standard range, so relative EPA ranges are very comparable. But like any vehicle at high speeds, the energy required is primarily from air resistance, and that energy increases roughly as the square of the speed. Thus, most vehicles will use about twice as much energy at 70 MPH as at 50 MPH. (Tesla’s navigation software is very accurate for trip energy estimation when one drives the speed limit; it appropriately deviates for higher or lower speeds, but it doesn’t account for head winds.) In practice there are multiple range deratings to consider:

    • Traveling at 65+ MPH OR into significant head winds can decrease range 10% or more.

    • Typical battery degradation after 100,000 miles is around 10%.

    • To minimize the battery degradation, you’ll normally limit charging to 80% unless you’re planning a long trip. And to allow for contingencies, you’ll typically target 10-20% left at the next refueling location (like any vehicle).

    • At low temperatures the battery is less efficient, which can reduce range ~10%.

    • Thus a 300-mile rated range can end up with 150 miles of usable range, depending on these factors. (Note that most of these degradations are similar for any ICE vehicle.)

    • An advantage of EVs is that they are very efficient at charging the battery when going downhill (regenerative braking), thus saving energy.    

  • Charging at home: For most EVs 90% of charging occurs at home, with a Level 1 (110V) or Level 2 (220V) connection. Charging on 110V is very slow—about 3 miles per hour of charging—but that is sufficient for many daily trips. Most owners install a 220V Level 2 charger with ~30 amp capacity, which charges at a rate around 16 miles per hour of charging; thus 10 hours of charging overnight adds 160 miles for the next day. A Level 2 charger requires enough current and two physical spaces in the house’s electric load center. A useful location for the charger is inside the garage near the door, so that cords can reach inside the garage as well as to a vehicle parked just outside. Multi-unit dwellings often imply significant obstacles for Level 1, and especially Level 2, charging infrastructure.

  • Charging on the road: For trips over ~200 miles, DC fast-charger (DCFC or Level 3) options are necessary. There are two main fast-charger connection standards in the US: NACS and CCS. There are many more NACS (Tesla-style) charger stalls and this type is growing quickly because it is the new standard; thus, all the major brands now offer NACS compatibility, sometimes with an adapter. Here is a map of the Telsa network; and the free Plugshare app maps all types of chargers. Top charging speeds range from 200 to 1000 miles per hour of charging, although many vehicles cannot handle the highest powers (charging speeds.)

  • Bidirectional charging: A new capability on some BEVs is the ability to discharge the battery to power external loads as well as the normal charging mode. This feature is variously called vehicle to load (V2L), vehicle-to-home (V2H), vehicle to grid (V2G), or vehicle-to-whatever (V2x). A typical BEV battery is large enough (~80 kWh) to power an average US house for 2-3 days, making V2H a major resource in long power outages. The energy storage in a BEV battery is the cheapest and already the most plentiful energy storage around; and V2G will become a fundamental building block for grid storage as soon as utilities and their regulators figure it out. With V2G, BEV owners can get paid by utilities for using a portion of their EV battery when it’s available. Thus the home backup power and the payments from utilities make bidirectional charging an increasingly valuable feature to consider. (Unfortunately, there are few V2X chargers and compatible home energy system options to choose from as yet.)   

  • Towing capacity: Most BEVs are very powerful—500+ horsepower is not uncommon in an SUV. Some larger BEVs are rated for up to 5000 lb towing capacity. But towing a small trailer will typically cut the range in half (true of ICE vehicles as well.)