Washington state EV incentive starts today

[Chuckanut]

It was not about buying when this program was first revealed, it was about sub $100 a month leases for 3 years on the lower end EV's. That is cheap driving for having a new reliable rig, IMO.

Yes, it is cheap. Will there be another subsidy after the three year lease runs out? I don’t know.

 

[skyking1]

Why worry about that? Today is the deal. The incentives change.

 

[Golden Mean]

Would it be worth considering something super cheap like a 2023 Nissan Leaf SV Plus? There are two of those in Spokane that are new at the dealer for $24,000. I think then you could apply the $3750 federal tax credit and the $5,000 from this Washington state program and end up with a final price of $15,250, which isn't bad for a new car. I would then insure it only for liability, which would be really cheap I am guessing, like $400/yr.

Beware of the LEAF's limitations. While I love my LEAF, I treat it more like an oversized golf cart. The chademo fast charge port on the LEAF isn't well supported outside of Japan, afaik. Also, the battery pack isn't temperature controlled like it is on pretty much all other EVs.

 

[Fermion]

Beware of the LEAF's limitations. While I love my LEAF, I treat it more like an oversized golf cart. The chademo fast charge port on the LEAF isn't well supported outside of Japan, afaik. Also, the battery pack isn't temperature controlled like it is on pretty much all other EVs.

Yeah, I ran the numbers and even with the big subsidies, EV still doesn't make sense for our case. Any trip we go on that is more than local, we would likely take the gas truck. We almost always either tow something or haul cargo on these trips. Local driving, the EV would cost $28 in fuel per month estimated vs $160 for the truck, but any insurance on a lease would eat that right up and if we paid cash even after the subsidy, we would be facing an opportunity cost on the $15,000, which at a 4.5% investment rate is $56 a month.

If we had no vehicle at all right now I would jump on this EV incentive!

 

[Koolau]

If WA could figure out a way to stop the #^%!* from cutting off the public EV charge station's charging cable for its copper, then life would be good. Over half of the public EV charging stations in King & Pierce counties can't be used thanks to these thieves.

We had a huge problem of wire thieves in the Islands. They would steal wire from the overhead lights on the Freeway. I suppose they'd get a few hundred dollars for their efforts while they cost the taxpayers millions. IIRC one of them got fried and that seemed to put a stop to the practice. Should we hope the same fate for wire thieves at EV charge stations or would that be too much?

 

[explanade]

If WA could figure out a way to stop the #^%!* from cutting off the public EV charge station's charging cable for its copper, then life would be good. Over half of the public EV charging stations in King & Pierce counties can't be used thanks to these thieves.

Down here in the Bay Area, there was a big problem with catalytic converter thefts. Law enforcement decided to investigate and found a family doing it and prosecuted them.

You'd think those chargers would have video cameras. Some gas stations have cameras and they don't have as many valuable things to steal.

 

[Texas Proud]

Kia EV6 is what I have, and that is the only real data that I can provide. BTW my ICE car is the Nissan Maxima 2014.

I imagine the Kona electric cost for driving 1500 miles is about the same with the EV6 which is $26 with level 2 home charger at 8.7 cents/kw.

Sorry, I meant compared to a Kona ICE compared to your EV....

But if it is the same size as a Maxima then it is a good comparison...

 

[Taco]

Any idea why that happens? They can sell those cables?

Copper. Scrap price for bare bright copper in Seattle is almost $3.50 a pound.

If you go down the electrical aisle at Lowes or Home Depot, you will likely see all of the copper wiring in cages. Copper theft is a real problem.

 

[Jimmie]

Yes, they cut the cables to sell the copper.

 

[Fermion]

I forgot where, my wife mentioned somewhere the copper thieves took a whole bunch of cable only to discover it was fiberoptic. What a waste.

 

[neihn]

Copper. Scrap price for bare bright copper in Seattle is almost $3.50 a pound.

If you go down the electrical aisle at Lowes or Home Depot, you will likely see all of the copper wiring in cages. Copper theft is a real problem.

That's pretty sad.

 

[Fermion]

That's pretty sad.

I asked the person at Home Depot why the romex wire was locked up and he said some people came in the store, loaded up a cart and just ran out of the store with it. Washington state laws are so lax that thieves will just do this stuff without facing much retribution...worse case they get arrested, get a free meal or two then let out the next day.

 

[Fermion]

Hah, read an article today that described how the incentive program is being mishandled.

Essentially it is supposed to knock $9,000 off of a lease, but they are just giving the money to the auto dealers who are reducing the price of the vehicle by $9,000 then applying the lease terms. This results in a much higher price to the consumer.

Example: Say a vehicle was $18,000, you take out a 3 year lease where the vehicle will have a residual value of 50% ($9,000 at the end of the lease). Your lease cost is $9,000 and the incentive gives you a $0 lease payment.

Now if the auto company takes $9,000 off the price instead, then they base the lease off a $9,000 vehicle price. With a 50% residual value, they charge you $4500 for the lease and you get a $125 lease payment.

Hilarious. I wonder if they will fix their mistake.