SACRAMENTO — Drivers looking to buy electric cars or other zero-emission vehicles in California will get less financial help from the state than many had hoped.

Lawmakers have killed San Francisco Assemblyman Phil Ting’s bill that could have tripled the state’s rebate for drivers who buy electric or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. His proposal sought to increase a typical consumer’s rebate to as much as $7,500 and provide a stable pot of funding for the payments.

The Senate Appropriations Committee rejected Ting’s bill, AB1046, without any public discussion in late August.

Ting, a Democrat, said there’s no chance the measure can be revived before lawmakers adjourn for the year on Friday. He said California’s existing rebate program for zero-emission cars isn’t working.

The program gives buyers a flat $2,500 for full-battery electric vehicles, and the state has no plan to decrease that rebate over time. Ting said that gives buyers no incentive to go electric now.

“The whole point of the rebate program is not to give money to everybody forever,” he said. “It’s kind of like pushing a sled. The sled is going to go down the hill anyways, but it needs a little push.”

His proposal would have immediately boosted rebates, then reduced them over time, as electric vehicles such as Teslas and Chevrolet Bolts presumably grow in popularity.

The Appropriations Committee chairman, Democratic Sen. Anthony Portantino of La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), did not respond to a request for comment, and committee members haven’t spoken about why they killed the plan.

Ting’s proposal could cost as much as $10 billion over a decade. It’s unclear how the state would have paid for it — the bill would have directed the state Air Resources Board to submit a plan.

Ting said the board could borrow to create a rebate fund and use its revenue sources to repay the money.

He said he plans to revive the issue with a bill or as part of the state budget next year.

Ting said he has persuaded Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to revive a key piece through the budget — a study to determine how the rebate program can be changed to help California achieve its goal of having 5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road by 2030. There are now 600,000.

He said the question will be answered as part of a broader study the state Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies must conduct on how to slash tailpipe emissions.

Ting’s bill also sought to eliminate a problem for many drivers trying to go electric: the state’s rebate waiting list. Currently, funding for electric car rebates runs out every fiscal year, forcing buyers to wait for a rebate until state leaders authorize more funding.

Clean-car advocates say that delay has limited the program’s success. Ting’s plan would have required the state find a source of uninterrupted funding for the rebates.

Dustin Gardiner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dustingardiner.