[seanp2k2]

One fun loophole to get the tax credit is through a lease. A lot of leasing companies pass the full credit on as a straight deduction on the capitalized cost, and you can stack that with other incentives. Lucid had some really ridiculous deal going that was supposedly leasing the >$100k sticker Air GT for $849/mo : https://www.autoblog.com/news/2024-lucid-air-available-from-...

I looked into that and there was exactly one vehicle available and it was something like $7500 due at signing to get that $849/mo payment, IIRC on a 36-mo term, so really it’s more like ~$1058/mo, which makes more sense.

Still a lot of discounts on EVs if you know where to look. Definitely lease; these will depreciate like bricks after the batteries get used up and are down below 70% capacity. I’m not sure how financing companies are doing the math but their expected values at the end of lease terms feel wildly optimistic. My guess is some degree of mfg incentives to push EVs combined with models that took too much pandemic pricing into account for used vehicles. If you can get a good money factor on the lease, go for it.

[Spooky23]

Yup, I leased the new Honda with a trade incentive for $250/mo. When you net out the gas savings, it’s like $190/mo. Ended up getting about $2500 more for my 10 year old trade than Carvana.

The business model is weird, it’s almost like you’re capitalizing the cost of gas, except the gas tank leaks after a few years.

I figure they’ll either deal on a buyout at the end of the lease, I’ll turn it in, or gas prices will go nuts and I’ll be able to flip the car. My brother did that with a Volt - bought it for $18k pre-pandemic sold for $23k in 2021!