With electric vehicle inventories rising amid slower than expected sales growth, Washington state has launched an incentive and rebate program with hopes of making EVs more affordable — particularly on leases.
The Washington State Instant Rebate program, announced Tuesday, is set to begin in August. The program is one of many tools the state is using to advance Washington’s clean energy future, according to Michael Furze, assistant director and energy division team leader at the Washington Department of Commerce. He said the goal of the state’s EV efforts is to increase the number of people who own and enjoy EVs.
Washington’s program prioritizes lower-costing EV leases, and is unique from other state programs because of its larger incentives and ease of use, Furze said. Other states offer tax rebates or on-the-hood incentives, he said, but the Washington program focuses on the most vulnerable households.
Under the incentive program, Washington residents earning up to $45,180 annually for a single person or $93,600 for a family of four would be eligible to receive up to $9,000 for a new EV lease of three years or more, or up to $5,000 for new EV purchases or two-year leases. Additionally, used EVs qualify for a $2,500 rebate on purchase and lease.
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“Washington state is already a leader in EV adoption, but many more people interested in ditching the gas pump may think they can’t afford to do it,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a press release. “With these new rebates, we’re significantly lowering the entry point, opening the door to EVs for people of modest incomes as we continue paving the way to a clean transportation future for all.”
The press release provides an estimate of an example lease based on advertised deals in April that include federal government and automaker incentives. Adding the Washington EV Instant Rebate has the potential to make lease payments on at least four EV models less than $100 a month with no down payment for consumers who meet qualifying criteria. The release cites data from Experian comparing monthly payments of leased gasoline-powered cars, which average about $500 per month.
U.S. EV inventories have been on the rise along with incentives from automakers. Automakers discounted EVs nearly $6,000 on average in the first quarter, according to Cox Automotive.
As of April 1, EVs were sitting on dealer lots for an average of 119 days. While that has fallen from a peak of 169 days in mid-February, helped by the discounts, it’s still a lot higher than the 73-day supply average of gasoline-powered vehicles. Days’ supply — the average number of days a car stays in dealer inventory before selling — can include vehicles in progress, in transit and sitting on lots.
Overall, EV transaction prices are still higher than those for gasoline-powered vehicles, despite the incentives and price cuts. Although the first-quarter average transaction price for EVs fell 9 percent from the same period a year earlier, it still stood at $55,167, according to Cox Automotive. That compares with an average transaction price of $47,735 for vehicles industrywide.
Furze said Washington taxpayers are supporting the state’s transformation to a clean energy economy by helping make EVs more affordable.
“Right now, we have $40 million to go out in the EV incentive and we have an additional $80 million in an account that we hope to tap into in the near future,” he said. “We’re going to learn a lot about who takes advantage of this incentive, so I can imagine there being adjustments over the course of the next few years to make this work for folks that live in overburdened communities.”
Hannah Lutz contributed to this report.
Source: autonews.com