Electric utilities are taking a leading role in addressing the daily affordability of electric vehicles (EV), offering direct-to-consumer subsidies and other incentives at a time when the federal government has pulled back on initiatives to bring down the cost of the vehicles.

Companies in California are planning to launch programs that would make funding available for needy households to use public EV charging networks. Meanwhile, an electricity provider in the state’s Bay Area is helping to subsidize its customers in their purchase of hundreds of electric bikes (e-bikes).

California, the state with the largest share of EVs on the road, hopes to blunt any slowdowns in their adoption by its nearly 28 million drivers. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest proposed budget would allocate $200 million for EV incentive programs, largely targeting the light-duty market, a move that received mixed reviews from advocates.