LEAFer
Well-known member
I enquired and received an email reply from a highly placed source at the California ARB to my question "Does the $5,000 rebate apply only to buyers, or can California lessees also get the cash back rebate?"
GOOD NEWS: Lessees also benefit. And here's an excerpt from the first email reply (emphasis mine), and the second one in its entirety:
For the rest of us ... $379 less $139 = $240. NICE way of thinking about it !
GOOD NEWS: Lessees also benefit. And here's an excerpt from the first email reply (emphasis mine), and the second one in its entirety:
... I actually reserved a LEAF on the first day (April 20?) and plan on leasing it. The lease rate for the higher trim level is $379/month. Subtract from that $139/month for the rebate ($5,000 amortized over 36 months) and $190/month for parking (the city garage across the street provides free EV parking) and the LEAF ends up costing us $50/month. If we get a J1772 charger across the street, I may even be able to get free fuel. Plus carpool lane decals. What a deal!
Of course, there’s charger installation. I haven’t set an appointment for an electrician to come out yet ...
He makes an interesting case with the $50/month by including the Sacramento City free parking deal. 190/month ??? Wow !Hi <name-removed>,
Yes, you can pass along the rebate info. The official website is: https://energycenter.org/index.php/incentive-programs/clean-vehicle-rebate-project
The $50 per month assumes rebates are still available by the time I get my car. The first year of the program was supposed to have $5M in it, but it was decreased based on State budget projections to $4.1 M. The board is in the process of approving $5 M for the second year. Assuming the State budget supports that full amount, we have $9.1M available through June 2011. However, commercial electric vehicles ended up in the light duty program for the first year. They’ll be moved to the heavy duty hybrid vehicle incentive program (http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aqip/hvip.htm) the second year. They can take up to $2.4M and I fully expect them to do so. That leaves $6.7 for light duty vehicles. I expect ten percent of that could go to NEVs and zero emission motorcycles. That leaves ~ $6M. Enough for 1,200 vehicles. Nissan has a commitment to first place vehicles in San Diego and L.A. because of their ARRA/DOE/ETEC grants (1,000 to S.D.). San Francisco and Sonoma follow closely. Sacramento shortly thereafter. It’s possible that all $6M could be allocated before I take possession of my vehicle, but the plan, if adopted by our board, is to place unfunded consumers into a queue for FY 11-12 funding. So I might not get my rebate until after June 2011. And I checked with the city on their plans to continue free EV parking before reserving my LEAF. My guess is that the city will only continue it for a couple of years because they would not want to lose that revenue stream when EVs become plentiful.
Feel free to share.
Regards,
<name-removed>
For the rest of us ... $379 less $139 = $240. NICE way of thinking about it !