February 2016

by Eugen Dunlap (eugen@evsplussolar.org)
By now you’ve  heard about and seen electric vehicles (EVs). Maybe you already have solar on your roof with extra charge left over. Now is the ideal time to take advantage of current, aggressive leasing options available for EVs.

You can try out an electric car for 3 years at a very affordable price: the cost of your current monthly gasoline bill. There are many options , for example: A brand new Chevy Spark EV for a total of $5421 for 3 years, sweetened with a $2500 CA rebate! That’s $81 per month.

cleanvehiclerebate.org

www.chevrolet.com/spark-ev-electric-vehicle.html

Leasing allows you to try out a vehicle and not worry about battery improvements. Since these lease prices change all the time, it is important to watch for updates. For example, the Clean California Rebate that covers a large percentage of the “due at signing” down payment or supplies cash to install a charger in the garage requires a 3 year lease. Even a grumpy young person who doesn’t care much about clean air can save a whole lot of ‘green’ by paying attention to the EV lease deals.

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Thanks to Mark Kane at InsideEVs for the summary table!  (insideevs.com/best-plug-in-electric-car-deals-for-january-2016/

Newbie advice. Your first EV should be your second vehicle. Soon enough the EV will turn into your preferred commuter car. Meanwhile, you still have another car for longer distances, unless you decide to go for a Tesla EV, which would let you ditch your gas cars all together.

Dealer advice. Take friends and information about the best deals available, so that you can get that good deal yourself without overpaying. I prefer to go late Sunday afternoon to avoid upselling and be out fast.

Chargers at home. My recommendation is to purchase a basic, portable charger that plugs into a 240V (yes, that is really all you need, not the 120V) outlet for no more than $580. Skip wireless access and all the other fancy stuff as your car almost certainly has that tech already built in. Also, don’t rent the charger or pay monthly fees, since we have a great manufacturer for these chargers nearby in Auburn, CA.
Join the Sacramento user group. Sign up for our local saceva.org user group. You’ll enjoy monthly ‘best deals’, get all your questions answered, and every 2 months we have a great group meeting in the Sacramento area. http://www.saceva.org/#!join-sacev/c1cri

If you have rooftop solar, you can charge off the sun, limiting your emissions even more. Be part of the future and take care of our earth! As one person told me at our last meeting: “Leasing electric is the best deal I ever got on a car.”