Automakers Desperate to Move Unwanted EVs Amp Up Discounts - Yes, Even Tesla

Tesla, GM, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford, and others are adding bigger and bigger discounts to unwanted electric vehicles in a desperate attempt to keep the delivery numbers from scaring investors silly. In our second report on the crazy discounting that automakers have had to resort to so they can shift EVs off ever-more-crowded lots, we look at the post-holiday offers that EV shoppers can take advantage of right now.

Tesla Discounts Now Exceed $5,000
Tesla’s Elon Musk once vowed never to discount a new car. Well, he’s vowed a lot of things, hasn’t he? Free Supercharging for life, service loaner cars “better than the one you own.” The list is long. The good news for shoppers hoping to fid a new Tesla a deep discount is that Tesla makes it super easy. You simply go to Tesla’s inventory page and start perusing the cars with cash on the dash. 

The list at Tesla’s inventory page obviously changes by region and by day as cars sell, so our examples are for the Northeast in mid-January. We started with the Model Y. We found a Model Y Long Range Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive marked down from $56,490 to $50,840. That equates to a discount of $5,560.Moving on to the Model 3, we found a Long Range Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive marked down from $49,990 to $44,990. There were many more Model Ys and 3s with deep discounts. The fancy-pants Model S and Model X EVs have discounts as high as $2K. 

Hyundai Discounts Now At $15,000 and counting
Hyundai has discounts on leased Ioniq 5 cars totaling $15K when they are leased. Can you imagine a car that was so red hot just 18 months ago that it was routinely sold above MSRP now being offered with $15K in incentives? These are not federal tax incentives, mind you. Just a manufacturer working with its dealers to drop prices and slash profits to move iron. You can read more about how the special Ioniq 5 deals work at this link from the EV-advocacy publication Elektrek. 

Volkswagen ID.4 - Too Many Discounts to List
The bloom seems to be off the once-hot Volkswagen ID.4. VW is throwing so many discounts at this BEV, we don’t have enough page space to list them all. The price cuts start with $8,000 on leases. There are multiple lease deals, including a second one for $7,500. If you are a special person in society, say a college grad, military member, cop, firefighter, ambulance driver, or that sort of thing, VW will throw another handful of Benjamins your way.  Check out VW’s discount list for details. 

For Mustang Mach-E Discounts
Ford’s Mustang Mach-e is still being discounted. This is despite being one of the top-selling BEVs in America in terms of overall deliveries. Without much effort, we found Mach-Es being offered with 1.9% financing and, on top of that, $3K in cash on the dash. 

GM Factory-Direct Battery Electric Discounts at $7,500
GM is barely in the EV business right now. The Bolt and Bolt EUV have been discontinued, the new Equinox EV is delayed, the new Blazer EV was pulled off the market because of scary glitches during media testing, and the Hummer and Silverado are barely selling. Yikes. To keep shoppers still thinking about GM when they shop for a BEV, the General is now offering $7,500 in discounts on EV models. Again, these are not federal tax incentives, they are manufacturers taking a bath on overpriced EV models. 

Before you shop for an EV, do yourself a solid and check for incentives. The days of cash on the dash, low-interest rates, sweetheart lease deals, and those ballon guys flapping in the wind are all back. 
 

Image of Tesla showroom by John Goreham.

John Goreham is an experienced New England Motor Press Association member and expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can follow John on Twitter, and connect with him at Linkedin.