Automakers are offering more deals to counter a downturn in sales brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, but most of those deals do not apply to hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric cars.
Lots of deals are available for other kinds of vehicles, but oddly not for green cars—perhaps indicating that automakers finally grasp the idea that cheap gas won't change minds especially in the plug-in realm.
Nissan, for example, is offering 0% APR financing for 84 months, but only on the Frontier and Titan pickup trucks.
In contrast, discounts for the Chevrolet Bolt EV are now less than the previous General Motors Supplier Pricing offer, which was quietly withdrawn for April.
GM previously offered a lease deal that lopped $10,000 off the Bolt EV's $37,495 base price, but this was to compensate for the end of GM's EV tax credit, which disappeared April 1.
GM was the second automaker, after to Tesla, to lose its tax credit, which begins to phase out when an automaker reaches 200,000 sales of qualifying vehicles.
A planned update of the Bolt EV has been delayed in part due to pandemic response.
2019 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid
GM is offering 0% APR financing and so-called "Sign & Drive" leases on other models, including the Chevy Equinox crossover and GMC Sierra pickup truck, but not the Bolt EV. Hyundai is offering the same financing terms, with the Kona Electric excluded.
Alternatively, the 2020 Hyundai Ioniq Electric is now the cheapest EV lease available. The hatchback can currently be leased for $209 a month for 36 months, with $2,199 due at signing, in New York, or $249 a month and $2,500 at signing in California. However, even those rates can't match a deal offered in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets in late 2019, when an Ioniq Electric could be leased for $79 a month.
The current lease rates are before incentives. Hyundai hasn't lost its federal EV tax credit yet.
California recently tightened the rules for its green-car purchase rebate. The amount was lowered $500, to $2,000 for electric cars and $1,000 for plug-in hybrids—provided they meet a minimum mileage.
The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid misses that cut, and remains one of our favorite plug-in hybrids. The Pacifica Hybrid also qualifies for employee pricing, 0% APR financing for 60 months, and no payments for 90 days. That works out at an effective cost of $560 a month.
Finally, if electrification isn't a must, the 2020 Hyundai Elantra achieves up to 36 mpg combined, and is available to lease on the West Coast for around $200 a month. A redesigned 2021 Elantra was unveiled in March, with a first-ever hybrid powertrain option.