GM announces new $4,000 rebate on the Chevy Volt - even more discounts available

After posting its third strong month in a row in May, the Nissan Leaf pulled into the top spot in terms of American EV sales for the 2013 calendar year, forcing the Chevrolet Volt to currently settle for second place. GM obviously isn’t too pleased with this so to help spark Volt sales through the summer months, the company has quietly instituted a variety of discount programs to help bring the price of the electric Chevy down by quite a bit. The result is an MSRP that currently starts at $35,995 rather than the standard $39,995 base price for anyone considering a Volt right now.

In addition to the basic $4,000 instant cash rebate, those considering financing on the 2013 Chevrolet Volt can pick from a pair of deals – either $2,000 cash and 0% financing for 60 to 72 months or $3,000 cash and 0% financing for 48 months. Depending on how buyers plan to pay off their new electric Chevy, these lower cash deals coupled with 0% financing may prove to be the more attractive option.

Also, GM has announced a new “conquest” discount that will add an extra $1,000 in cash to any Volt buyer who is currently leasing a qualifying competitors’ vehicle. Those prospective Volt buyers or leasers who are currently leasing a 1999 or newer vehicle from pretty much any brand sold in America apply for this $1,000 (fine print notwithstanding). When you combine this conquest discount with the current $4,000 instant cash rebate, the Volt carries a price of $34,995 including destination. Mind you, this is on 2013 model year vehicles so if you want to score a new Volt for under $35k, you should probably act quickly.

The good news is that dealerships are also looking to empty their lots of 2013 model year Volts to make room for the quickly approaching 2014 model year electric sedans and that leads to deeper discounts at the point of sale. Reports indicate that some dealerships are knocking as much as $8,000 off of the MSRP of the Volt and if that trend continues – some careful shoppers could put a Volt in their driveway for somewhere in the $30k range. That is most certainly a price that is going to attract some buyers and these big discounts could help the Volt climb back into the top spot among the electric vehicle segment. For comparison, the Nissan Leaf (the bestselling car in the American EV segment right now) carries a base price of $29,650 but it should be pointed out that the Volt really only comes loaded to the hilt while the Leaf S doesn’t include a great many of the amenities of the Volt’s interior…the Leaf also doesn’t include a range extending gasoline engine.

We should remind those considering a new Chevrolet Volt that there is still the $7,500 federal tax credit that comes with buying an electric vehicle plus programs that can knock off as much as $2,500 depending on the state in which the car is purchased. This means that in a state like California where the “Clean Vehicle Rebate Project” will pay you $2,500 for buying a Chevy Volt – the final price just with GM incentives, state incentives and federal tax credits, the effective price would be around $24,995 after it is all said and done.

Source: Inside EVs