If you were considering an EV (electric vehicle) NOW is the time to buy

As you probably know there has been a tax rebate of $7500 if you were to purchase an EV for at least the last couple years. Well, starting in 2024 they now have it so that you can take that $7500 right off the purchase price of the vehicle and not wait for monkeying around with a tax credit that you will likely see little of it.
My son bought a Chevy Bolt EV last night and with this 7500, his employee discount and the GM Card $500 for signing up he save $9500 off.
GM in their infinite wisdom has decided to kill off this model which has been selling like crazy for the last 6 months.
Now, EV isnt for me, but he drives 3 miles to work. This vehicle has a 280 mile range and with regenerative braking he will likely never have to charge it unless he goes to like my dads or the cities or something. He can plug it in at work for free as well.
Just thought I would share in case someone might be interested. Not sure if that 7500 is only for EVs or if Hybrids are included however. Id consider a hybrid but an EV I am not ready for at this stage.

Don’t think it includes hybrids. I just bought one in November, and Toyota never mentioned a word about it.

Maybe the “type” of hybrid makes a difference. I don’t plug mine in. While I’m running the engine in low RPM mode, it sends power back to the EV portion.

That would make sense. I bet the plug in hybrids might be included, but not sure. Its a neat little car that bolt. Sucks that GM in their infinite wisdom killed it. Gilleland sold 5 new ones this week. Down to their last 1 and doubt they will be getting more. Now I have to buy his old car from him that will be passed down to the youngest when he turns 16. Well, he is only 14 now. I have a used car lot here. 2 trucks in the garage, 1 truck outside and a Fiero under my deck soon to figure out a space for a Pontiac Vibe.

Ya I’m not quite ready to make the full jump to EV either which is why I went with a hybrid. I presume that people who own EVs here have a heated spot in garage to park it at night in the winter too. Can’t imagine parking an EV outside in super cold temps night after night would be desirable for battery longevity.

Did you get a Highlander or Rav4? My wife wants a Highlander something fierce and would love the hybrid. I think that would be perfect for her.

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/credits-for-new-clean-vehicles-purchased-in-2023-or-after#:~:text=You%20may%20qualify%20for%20a%20credit%20up%20to%20%247%2C500%20under,purchased%20from%202023%20to%202032.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Did you get a Highlander or Rav4?

Rav4 Hybrid. The Highlander is a nice ride though, just bigger. More expensive. I have no need for an SUV of that size. If you want a brand new one, you might want to look at placing an order. New ones were cheaper than used ones, but they took 4-8 months to arrive.

Any idea what your son paid out the door?

Unfortunately some of these rebates are running out. I believe the Tesla model 3 ran out last year and the Mustang Mach E did as well.

That $7,500 will help offset the cost of upgrading your electrical. Hope you have a double slot still available in your panel.

Rodwork wrote:

That $7,500 will help offset the cost of upgrading your electrical. Hope you have a double slot still available in your panel.

Good thinking.

Do these cars come w the chargers? Sold separately?

And do you need to pull a permit for this type of work if you were to hire it out?

What kind of warranty do they have on EV battery life?
How much does it cost to replace out of warranty batteries?

I am a bit out of the loop on what is out there right now but I bought a 2020 Bolt Premier new off the lot in March of 2021 and I paid about $25,000 + TTL. I bought when they were not selling and just sitting on the lot, GM had sold to many to get a rebate, and gas was still $2/gallon. Mine is purely a daily driver commuter car as I have a full sized truck at home for weekends/trips, etc… I have a bit over 35,000 on mine so far and it has been super simple to own/drive. I drive about 250 miles per week just commuting to work. It cost me about $15 a month in the summer and $25 or $30/ month in the winter. Range is easily 250-300 miles in the summer and at the worst it might be 100-150 miles and I run very aggressive snow tires from November thru April. I received all new batteries this spring so my total coverage will be 10 year and 130,000 miles. I figure by that time I hit 10 years I will have save over $10,000 in gas (likely closer to $14,000) with and average of $3/gal gas. The state of MN does charge a $75 fee on tabs every year as I am not paying gas tax and insurance is a bit more than my other commuter car options. So far a good experience and saving a lot of money at the pump. I think the new deal is decent but I don’t know the terms, I have heard of people finding outrageous deals on used Bolt’s with GM replaced batteries (starts a new 8 year 100k warranty) with hail damage and other minor cosmetic issue that still qualified for some rebates and people are getting these cars that are under 50,000 miles for very low prices… That is probably the best deal out there if incentives/rebates are still in tact but I cant speak to what is still available or who is eligible. I am not the most confident in an economy GM car as they don’t have a great track record but so far so good for me.

Gimruis, Does the Rev 4 Hybrid come with a spare, or do the batteries take up too much room?

Pete Bauer wrote:

Any idea what your son paid out the door?

The window sticker was $32k I believe and with all his discounts and after everything was all said and done I think he walked out the door with it for $26k.

Rodwork wrote:

That $7,500 will help offset the cost of upgrading your electrical. Hope you have a double slot still available in your panel.

He wont need to do that. It just wont charge as fast. Plus, when he does need to charge it he will just do it at work since they have fast charging stations right there and no one uses them because Buick and GMC do not have an EV. He drove it around all day yesterday and the range dropped like 10 miles. Granted this was in town, but with the regenerative braking charging the system back up he said he hadnt even used the brakes yet.

nord wrote:

Gimruis, Does the Rev 4 Hybrid come with a spare, or do the batteries take up too much room?

It has a spare. It’s under the cargo area in back.

CBMN, thanks for providing all those numbers. I’m curious, did you have to upgrade your electrical at home to be able to charge the EV there? What did it run you to get set up for charging at home?

CBMN real good real world feedback. THank you! I will share your experience with my son. He is really excited. Its his first new car. He was all set to buy it right before Christmas but backed out at the last second. Then he found out about this change for 2024 and he really couldnt pass it up! He researches everything heavily to a fault like me, but he is actually even worse than I am LOL.

Duplicate

Gitchi, I have a 200 amp panel and plenty of spare capacity so it was easy. Spring of 2021 I happened to be hiring an electrician to run power to a detached garage I built in 2020 so I had an open electrical permit with the city and they added the charger to it. My electrical utility has a half cost off peak charging program so an additional minus meter socket needed to be installed and the power company delivered the meter socket to my door. Electrician installed the new 240 volt breaker, ran it to the meter socket then across the garage to the charger. I bought the charger myself and the electrician hung it and plugged it into the 240 volt outlet that was installed. In total it was around $1500 (including charger and full installation) and the utility gave me $500 rebate and I got some back on taxes that year also. This can vary greatly depending on capacity of your service panel and location of your panel vs where you want your charger, I had a very simple install as it was all in my attached garage. Another priority for me was a pug on charger vs hard wired so if the charger goes bad or I need or want an upgrade in the future the change is easy.

So I’m really confused by this ev push. My electric coop is actually charging us more because of increased usage during peak times and want us to use less energy, they actually just added another fee to our bill. Currently I have over $125 in added fees to my bill. all while pushing ev vehicles. Very confusing.

How much does it cost to replace a set of out of warranty batteries?

gregory wrote:

So I’m really confused by this ev push. My electric coop is actually charging us more because of increased usage during peak times and want us to use less energy, they actually just added another fee to our bill. Currently I have over $125 in added fees to my bill. all while pushing ev vehicles. Very confusing.

It’s not really because of ev vehicles it’s because of solar and wind power that’s driving up costs. Xcel just announced it the other day.

jwellsy wrote:

How much does it cost to replace a set of out of warranty batteries?

In some cases more than the car is worth but most get rid of them far before then. My son’s roommate is actually making lithium battery packs and will be probably making the first electric Ford festiva lol

The batteries for the hybrid I just bought are warrantied through 100k or 8 years.

Replacement is about 5 grand for new ones.

gimruis wrote:

The batteries for the hybrid I just bought are warrantied through 100k or 8 years.

Replacement is about 5 grand for new ones.

I don’t know what kind of car it was but I just saw a post a week or so ago that it would cost 54k to replace. I’m sure it’s an upscale vehicle but cripes that’s ridiculous.
The good thing about a hybrid is if the batteries go bad you can still drive them.

So…??? My question is with all the hoopla on EV… Do you guys realize those windmills don’t last but about 17 years.. and there dumping them in a deep hole and can’t be recycled. those solar panels are hazardous waste in like 30 years… so you just get new batteries and don’t care What or where that battery ends up.:?:
Environment friendly

Yep one in e every crowd

$54 grand to replace batteries in an EV doesnt seem accurate but I’m sure on something like a Tesla its not cheap.

I didnt buy a hybrid to be environmentally friendly. I bought it because I was sick of buying gas so often.

I presume most auger users are using battery powered models now too.

gimruis wrote:

$54 grand to replace batteries in an EV doesnt seem accurate but I’m sure on something like a Tesla its not cheap.

I didnt buy a hybrid to be environmentally friendly. I bought it because I was sick of buying gas so often.

I presume most auger users are using battery powered models now too.

not an effin chance.