Over at +Green Car Reports, +John Voelcker makes a great point about most of the automakers offering plug-in vehicles. When you look at much of their promotional material, the price that you see promoted most of the time is the so-called net-price, that is the price after subtracting the $7,500 federal tax credit.
The problem is that isn't the price you'll pay if you go to a dealer and try to buy a +Nissan Leaf, +Chevrolet Volt or +Tesla Motors Model S. You have to pay the full retail price and then if you qualify, you'll get the tax credit sometime in 2013 after filing your federal tax return.
Tesla is particularly egregious in this regard because they promote the Model S as costing just $49,900 while also promoting a 300 mile electric driving range. The problem is the 300 mile range is only available in the top of the line Model S which costs $20,000 more (plus the $7,500 that you get back later). The base $57,400 model only has a nominal range of about 160 mile and it won't be available until at least the end of the year.
There should be truth in pricing for EVs.
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Electric-Car Prices: Tesla, Nissan, Chevy Should Be Ashamed–Here's Why
Always read the fine print. That's a lesson every car buyer should take to heart. Especially since Nissan, Chevrolet, Tesla, and Mitsubishi all now engage in a pricing practice of which they should be…
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I think by and large people considering an EV know that $7500 is going to be tacked on to the advertised price. More information about the tax credit and how long it takes to get the money back is needed, though. Additionally, I've never seen Tesla advertise the $50k Model S with a 300 mile range.
Interestingly they don't include the sales tax in the price but they include the tax credit. I think they should decide and either put price before all taxes or after all the taxes. Giving me the price in between taxes is as if I hired a person and told him his salary after he is going to use his child tax credit for his three children. "Here man, you are going to be making $53,000 annually here, the $3,000 is going to be your child tax credit you will get from the government. And yeah, you will have to pay income tax for your remaining $50,000."
JV is so solid.