Why Electric Cars Are Selling in CA...they're Free..

[TinMachine]

That's what this guy says:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12262655/1/why-electric-cars-are-selling-in-california-theyre-free.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
:shock:

 

[adric22]

Mine sure weren't free. Even with the federal tax credit and a lease, I can barely afford them.

 

[derkraut]

That's what this guy says:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/12262655/1/why-electric-cars-are-selling-in-california-theyre-free.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
:shock:

Just another uninformed reporter. :?

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Your employer might give you $250/month if you buy a plug in car?

And the streets in CA are paved with gold?

And there are no mice?

 

[nosuchthing]

It's definitely cheaper to lease them for 3 years than buy them.

 

[Graffi]

When we first started looking at the Leaf we were attracted to the $1,999 down, $199 per month offer. At the time we were spending over $250 per month on gas, so it looked like we could actually get a new car for free. Then the salesman let my wife drive an SL and she was hooked. We used the Californai rebate of $2,500 for down payment (yes, we used the credit card and paid it off when we got the check from the state) and 36 month lease at $432.80 (including sales tax). A little over double the offer, but she was willing to pay it to get the extras. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE our Leaf and do not regret the decision. We would do it again. OH, and we got the FREE home EVSE installed, only having to pay the $200 permit. We still consider that half of the payment is covered by gas savings so we are paying $200 per month for the extra options.

 

[Nubo]

I'm paying for mine. I'm such a dope.

 

[GlennD]

I was at Stadium Nissan today to get my 12V battery replaced. The service adviser said that the Leaf was a slow seller for them. He said that techno geeks like me and eco geeks were the only ones buying them. So much for free cars.

I was an original full price buyer so I was able to extend my lease and get another Leaf SL Premium for the same price. I must say I love my Leaf! Today was the first trouble I have had and roadside assistance showed up in less than half an hour. With no apt I had to wait a couple of hours for the repair but that is completely understandable.

 

[Nubo]

I was at Stadium Nissan today to get my 12V battery replaced. The service adviser said that the Leaf was a slow seller for them. He said that techno geeks like me and eco geeks were the only ones buying them. So much for free cars.

We're a society of "techno geeks". Some "car guys" don't yet get it. The age of Dino Juice is going bye-bye.

 

[RonDawg]

I was at Stadium Nissan today to get my 12V battery replaced. The service adviser said that the Leaf was a slow seller for them. He said that techno geeks like me and eco geeks were the only ones buying them. So much for free cars.

Yet Nissan USA has sold more Leafs in 2013 then they did in 2011 and 2012 combined. And someone mentioned in another thread that demand was greater than supply, and the paltry incentives being offered now seems to support that.

Dealership service departments have a lot to lose if EV's start to overcome ICEVs in sales, so they have every incentive to not talk positively about them.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Then the salesman let my wife drive an SL and she was hooked. We used the Californai rebate of $2,500 for down payment (yes, we used the credit card and paid it off when we got the check from the state) and 36 month lease at $432.80 (including sales tax). A little over double the offer, but she was willing to pay it to get the extras

You're paying $200+ a month for cheap leather seats?

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Then the salesman let my wife drive an SL and she was hooked. We used the Californai rebate of $2,500 for down payment (yes, we used the credit card and paid it off when we got the check from the state) and 36 month lease at $432.80 (including sales tax). A little over double the offer, but she was willing to pay it to get the extras

You're paying $200+ a month for cheap leather seats?

No, for a happy wife!

Anyway, their employers will give them $250/month each for buying it, because hey, it's California, where the streets are paved with gold, and all EVs are free! Woohoo!

 

[donald]

Just another uninformed reporter. :?

He's got his point, but only so long as an employer will continue to pump-prime the incentive for an EV for their employee for a full 6 years.

The service adviser said that the Leaf was a slow seller for them. He said that techno geeks like me and eco geeks were the only ones buying them. So much for free cars.

We're a society of "techno geeks". Some "car guys" don't yet get it. The age of Dino Juice is going bye-bye.

But like dinosaurs, although you might like to imagine they died out in an instance, it was over a very long time. The free market will balance the EV versus ICE/hybrid for a few decades yet - ICE and fuel will just get cheaper if they become less popular. EVs don't yet have the luxury of being a 100-year-established profit-making technology that can be easily manipulated on cost. At the moment, they have to be subsidised to sell, and that's the journo's point. They're not even selling in the forecast numbers, so what would happen if all subsidies were withdrawn? And what would happen to the state of the technology if all research grants, around the world, were withdrawn for improving batteries, drivetrains, etc.?

Moving away from coal/oil/gas burning power stations towards nuclear/renewables is an inevitability, and so if personalised transport is to remain then EVs will inevitably gain dominance. But that time isn't here just yet, this is simply the first flush of a future that may, or may very well not, be any time soon.

If you're posting here, you must be keenly thinking about EVs. That enthusiasm might mislead you into thinking others think likewise. The reality is they don't and the vast majority of folks, be they misguided or realistic, think EVs are still a 'joke' car or, at best, a hobby-curiosity that someone else might have as a 'third' vehicle.

 

[caffeinekid]

I get the gist of the article as well...assuming the employer subsidy was somehow normal. But there are a few points I would take with the post above.

But like dinosaurs, although you might like to imagine they died out in an instance, it was over a very long time. The free market will balance the EV versus ICE/hybrid for a few decades yet - ICE and fuel will just get cheaper if they become less popular.

What free market? There has never been such a system and certainly not in this country. It is merely a political rallying point like God or Freedom used to manipulate thought and control poopulations. A lot of "geeks" and other types have come to understand as much and hence, the fight for a place at the trough through EV subsidies. Oil is subsidized as well. What will truly balance the EV vs ICE/hybrid paradigm is the push economy that is controlled in large part by the same petrol juggernaut in question. This idea that the consumer creates demand is a bold assertion that flies in the face of a HUGE industry known as advertising, as well as political lobbying and others.

EVs don't yet have the luxury of being a 100-year-established profit-making technology that can be easily manipulated on cost. At the moment, they have to be subsidised to sell, and that's the journo's point. They're not even selling in the forecast numbers, so what would happen if all subsidies were withdrawn? And what would happen to the state of the technology if all research grants, around the world, were withdrawn for improving batteries, drivetrains, etc.?

The key word in this whole statement is "profit," which by its very nature is a mark of inefficiency. It is why we deplete our only resources, destroy our environment and let many of our own species suffer and die needlessly, let alone others.

Moving away from coal/oil/gas burning power stations towards nuclear/renewables is an inevitability, and so if personalised transport is to remain then EVs will inevitably gain dominance. But that time isn't here just yet, this is simply the first flush of a future that may, or may very well not, be any time soon.

If you're posting here, you must be keenly thinking about EVs. That enthusiasm might mislead you into thinking others think likewise. The reality is they don't and the vast majority of folks, be they misguided or realistic, think EVs are still a 'joke' car or, at best, a hobby-curiosity that someone else might have as a 'third' vehicle.

Goes without saying. Although again, I would draw emphasis on the "misguided" since reality is certainly engineered in this case. Our whole economy relies on waste, destruction and death to thrive. In a word, it is a non-economy. And yes, none of this will change overnight. After all, the mentality we are up against is based in jungle law where the biggest ape takes all the spoils and scarcity is inherent. The problem is that at this stage in technology, scarcity is mostly contrived and the old antiquated world need not apply.