The inability to get full credit is one of the main reasons, LEAFs are "primarily" leased. There are some who lease only because they know the tech is still in the stage of rapid evolution but the ideology that only the very well to do buy EVs is the very thing that Nissan is addressing.iPlug wrote:Not really an assumption. What evidence is there that most new Leaf buyers can’t take most or all of the $7500 federal tax credit? That is, ones who actually buy the vehicle. If you have a source, please provide.tattoogunman wrote:But it's also assuming those discounts are available. Me personally, I don't like using tax credits as a defacto crutch to buying these vehicles. Not everyone is entitled to the tax credit at the end of the year and even if you are, if you don't immediately write your lien holder a check for $7500, you still paid full price for whatever EV you bought. Not every state has rebates either (like here in Texas). If those credits were all immediately taken off the purchase price at time of purchase, I wouldn't have such a huge problem with them. Those same credits will also be expiring for many in the not so distant future, so that's another reason why I don't like taking them into account. Heck, I found my first used 2017 Bolt for sale locally for $29K already - it's a base model car and if you add that $7500 credit back in, you're at about what the car's MSRP was. I also say all of this as a poor bloke, so don't get me wrong and I cannot afford any of the current crop of EVs at their new car prices.iPlug wrote:Nearly all manufactures will sell vehicles near MSRP for the first few months until pent-up demand abates. Then dealer and manufacturer incentives are commonly rolled out. That was certainly the case of the first generation of Leaf, then Nissan dealers were selling it for thousands below MRSP for the last few years (as threads here verify). In California, the most popular plug-in state, we also have $7,500 federal tax credit + $2,500 state refund.
Indeed, depreciation on BEVs, especially the Leaf, has been bad. But the relative percent is much less scary after taking these $10-15k+ discounts into account.
Tesla continues to only sell at MSRP because they can. That is a good problem to have.
Sure there are folks who truly don’t have the income to qualify for the full credit. But they don’t count if they didn’t buy the vehicle any more than I don’t count for not having bought a Lamborghini. But it’s baked into the lease regardless of one’s income and many lease BEVs. In fact, current gen 2 Leaf leases reflect at least $7500 off as Nissan assumes the credit.
Most Leafs historically have been sold in States like California with similar rebates. Colorado, for example is more generous.
Don’t take my word on it, look at the prices paid thread. Last year was ridiculous with clearing out inventory and some folks got a new Leaf for as little as $11k. ~$10-15k off was more typical for most of the gen 1 Leaf lifecycle for actual purchase and lease.
I lease because I don't qualify for the full credit and Nissan handles leases in a way that allows me to get that full credit.