California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) rang in the New Year following a record-breaking month during which more than 5,900 new vehicle owners submitted applications. This submission level for December 2015 far exceeded the monthly average of about 4,200 new applications and beats the previous monthly high of 4,900 submissions set in March 2014.

Nationwide, car consumers bought more electric vehicles in December than in any other previous month ever, with 13,650 purchases or leases, even though gas prices were the lowest in nearly six years.

“California leads the nation in zero-emission vehicle adoption and, with new models coming out with greater range capabilities and increasing government and utility support for installing charging stations, we should continue to see strong growth,” said Colin Santulli, CSE’s transportation senior manager.

Developed by the California Air Resources Board and administered by CSE, CVRP promotes clean vehicle adoption by offering rebates of up to $5,000. The rebates are for the purchase or lease of new, eligible zero-emission vehicles, including electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell vehicles.

Since the project began in 2010, it has processed an ever increasing number of rebates for clean vehicles in the state, delivering more than $278 million for 131,250 rebates, and it’s expected that 2016 will be a record-breaking year.

Californians considering a new vehicle can check out information on the different clean vehicle options and rebate amounts offered for specific cars at the CVRP website.