EV rebate question

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1

This is a great site. I am hoping I can get info as to how the EV rebate works in NYS. Does it come off sale price? Do I get a check after the fact from NYS? Something else? I have looked but am unsure of the answer. Thanks in advance for any input.

2

I put “NY EV Rebate” into DuckDuckGo, and guess what came up first?

https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Programs/Drive-Clean-Rebate/How-it-Works

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3

Jeez thanks. It says it is a point of sale rebate. Do you know whether the dealer is required to deduct it from sales price or can tney try to hide and/or keep it? For example, the Ionic has 10,000 lease cash plus NYS has 2000 rebate for Ionic. Should I not assume a 12,000 discount right from the start?

4

You should be getting at least that. A dealer could try to markup the selling price of the car to “claim” the rebate for themselves, but all of those rebates would have to be shown somewhere on the contract if what you are saying is accurate (I don’t know the current Ioniq programs). Best bet as always is to ask for price quotes from dealers that are including pre incentive dealer discount only, or at least make sure you know the total of the rebates you qualify for so you can back them out of the quoted price and see how much of a “real” discount they are giving you.

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5

It’s worth noting that in NY, Electric Vehicle purchases are taxable. So the calculation is:

  •  Vehicle Lease Price (Down + 36 equal payments)
  • + Dealer fees and non-removable add-ons
  • = Total Taxable Lease Price of Car
  • + Government fees (registration)
  • − Taxable rebates (i.e. college grad)
  • − NY DRIVE CLEAN Rebate amount
= Total lease cost, including taxes, fees, rebates.

Then you divide that total 3-year cost of the lease by 36 to get your total payment, after factoring in the rebates that come in after-taxes.

I disagree with the previous post that “pre-incentive dealer discount only” is the most transparent quote, because that leaves opportunity for dealers to add mandatory fees and accessories. The discount percentage is meaningless if you don’t know the total-cost of the deal. It’s a useful number for cross-shopping deals between states, but it is not always the whole picture

At the end of the day, a lease is just a rental car. All that matters is how much per day, month, or year you pay to drive the car, just like renting from Avis, Budget, or Enterprise. If the car has a 40% dealer discount, but $4000 in nitrogen tires, aftermarket car alarms, and window tint, you may be paying the same as a car that has a 4% dealer discount, but no required addons.

The best way to know if you’re getting a good deal is to compare your bottom-dollar, all-in figure: How much does it cost per day to rent/drive this car? How much does it cost per day to rent/drive the same car from a different dealer? How much does it cost per day to rent/drive a similar car?

If you ask yourself those three questions, you can cut out all all the fees and confusion and just compare the true actual cost for your lease that you’d be writing a check for every month. The taxes/fees will be at the same rate for any car you consider, being registered at the same location, so just focus on the bottom line and decide for yourself if a given car provides value at the quoted all-in payment.

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6

Thanks for the response. Am I correct that the Leashackr calculator properly accounts for NY’s tax rules? Also, I assume that lease cash is a taxable incentive. Is the NYS EV rebate also taxable?

7

They are both considered taxable incentives in NY.

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