You need green to go green, but the greenest state is cutting back how much green it can grant.
In other words, the fund behind California’s $5,000 electric vehicle incentive rebates has dried up. However, the state’s Air Resources Board has designated an extra $40 million to be divided into a new batch of incentives, this time for $2,500 . This is on top of the $7,500 federal tax credit on electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The rebate change comes on the heels of a new price increase for the only all-electric vehicle on the market: The Nissan Leaf. The automaker, which recently announced plans to produce Leaf motors in its Tennessee factory, is increasing prices on base and SL-model Leafs around seven to nine percent, or $2,420 and $3,530 respectively. The new rebate just barely covers the first increase, and falls $1,000 short on the SL models.
However, buyers won’t be limited to the Leaf for long. Ford will soon start selling an all-electric version of the new Focus compact. The Mitsubishi iMiEV is also headed our way, and the company recently announced that it would offer the next Outlander Crossover as a plug-in hybrid. Toyota will offer an all-electric RAV4 Electric and the Prius will also get a plug-in hybrid model. Honda fans will also get a bite at the electric apple when electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the Fit go on sale.
Source: L.A. Times
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