HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 03-10 Electric-car boosters offer Minnesotans a rebate PIONEER PRESS 3/10/2016 Main
Thinking about an electric car? Now might be the time
> Leaf discount
Nonprofit, dealership team up to offer March discount on Nissan Leaf
By Julio Ojeda-Zapata
'oil edaioneetress.com
Consumers like electric cars ... in theory.
Who wouldn't dig a car that is dead silent, spews no noxious fumes, is eco-chic and can be fueled simply
by plugging it in for the night, like an Whone?
But a number of factors stop would-be buyers short. Higher sticker prices are one major snag, even
though electric cars end up being cheaper to maintain and operate than gasoline-powered vehicles in the
long run.
Now, a local nonprofit is attempting to goose electric-car sales with sharply reduced pricing.
The nonprofit, Drive Electric Minnesota, does not itself sell electric cars but has teamed up with a local
Nissan dealer to offer a steep discount on the Leaf electric-car
CONTINUED FROM 1A
model.
Consumers get the discount much as they might get a killer deal on chicken thighs at the supermarket: by
brandishing a coupon.
Through the end of March, Drive Electric Minnesota is offering vouchers good for a big Leaf discount at
Kline Nissan in Maplewood. Those who sign up on the nonprofit's site (driveelectricmn.org) typically
receive the voucher by email within a few days.
The deal applies only to a particular version of the 2016 Leaf, called the SV, but the rebate's math is
attentiongrabbing: The car, with a sticker price of$35,420, drops to $29,107 with the voucher.
When factoring in a federal tax credit available to all electric- vehicle purchasers, the damage on a Leaf
is $21,607, or about 40 percent off the manufacturer's suggested retail price, or MSRP.
The voucher is also good for those wanting to lease a Leaf instead of purchasing one outright, although
the math works out a bit differently.
Jukka Kukkonen, a Drive Electric founding member, said he pays about $315 a month to lease his 2016
Leaf and calculates that under the rebate program, he would pay about $45 less a month.
"The idea is to get a bigger number of people purchasing or leasing new electric vehicles for lower
prices," said Kukkonen, who operates an electric-car consulting firm called P1uglnConnect.
1/4
3/10/2016 Main
Nothing like this has been tried in Minnesota before. Drive Electric Minnesota, a group dedicated to
boosting electric-car use in the state, said it modeled its rebate program on a similar program in
Colorado.
That program, Solar Benefits Colorado, available late last year to those in Boulder, Adams and Denver
counties, knocked about 15 percent off the cost of solar rooftop systems and about $8,300 off the cost of
the Leaf, according to Brad Smith, a Boulder County sustainability specialist.
"We decided to replicate that program," said Brendan Jordan, a vice president at the Great Plains
Institute for Sustainable Development in Minneapolis.
The institute operates Drive Electric Minnesota, a coalition of electric utilities, government agencies,
auto makers, auto dealers, nonprofits and other electric-car proponents that seek to popularize this mode
of transportation.
This is not a always a breeze, Jordan said, particularly at a time when gas prices have come down and
average motorists are less obsessed with alternate vehicle technologies.
But "the biggest challenge with electric cars is a high upfront cost," he said. "There is a lower lifetime
cost, with an equivalent of 50 cents a gallon for fuel, and a lot of savings on maintenance since the cars
are much simpler. But owners pay more up front."
WHAT'S IN IT FOR AUTO DEALERS?
To attack this problem head on, Drive Electric Minnesota sought to set up rebate programs with local
auto dealers that sell electric cars. These include BMW, Ford, General Motors and Nissan dealers. Only
Kline Nissan has been amenable to such an arrangement so far, said Jordan, who is still willing to
negotiate with other dealers.
Although a dealer takes a big hit on the sale of a single auto under this sort of arrangement, it
hypothetically is able to sell more cars than it usually does, and thereby come out ahead on volume,
Jordan said.
Kline Nissan also looks to gamer other benefits, such as long-term relationships with its new customers
and referrals to boost revenue even further over the years, said Adam Bazille, a Kline sales staffer
focused on the Leaf.
"We think it is the wave of the future, and we'd like to see as many electric cars on the road as we can
get," Bazille said.
This is an easy sell for one segment of Bazille's clientele, which consists of car buyers who have done
their research and are well-informed about electric-car technology, he said.
But other would-be electriccar buyers are hesitant and brimming with questions, Bazille said. They want
to know, for instance, how much it costs to operate an electric car compared to a gas car.
For typical Leaf users, this works out to about $50 a month if the car logs about 15,000 miles on the
odometer in a year, he said. This gets even cheaper by charging at off-peak hours, he added.
With the shoppers thereby reassured, and with the purchasing rebate as an added incentive for such tire-
kickers, Bazille hopes to score healthy sales. He hasn't seen a stampede so far, though.
2/4
3/10/2016 Main
"It at least gets people thinking about the option,"he said.
THE LEAF
A Leaf has a range of about 70 to 80 miles on a single charge in the winter, Bazille said, and about 100 to
110 miles in the summer with the higher-capacity, 30-kilowatthour battery pack on the model Kline is
offering.
Those buying a Leaf as part of the rebate program get additional perks, Jordan said. These include free
30-minute sessions for two years at public "fast charging" stations.
Such chargers juice up electric cars more quickly than conventional charging stations. About a dozen of
the fast chargers are sprinkled around the metro area, along with about 240 standard charging stations
with muchlengthier charging times.
Because a Leaf can get nearly a full charge in 30 minutes at a fast charger, resourceful users could end up
driving their Leafs for free during those two years, Bazille speculates.
Most electric-car owners charge their vehicles at home, though, and will typically spring for 240-volt
"level two" outlets that work faster than regular 120-volt outlets.
Ralph Jenson, a Minneapolis resident who until recently owned a 2015 Leaf, said the rebate has no major
gotchas that he can see.
"You're getting a Leaf for pretty darn cheap," said Jenson, who recently passed on his Leaf to his
daughter and now drives an electric BMW 13.
The Leaf, a five-passenger car, "has a good size and good headroom for those of us who are tall," Jenson
said. "It's nice and reliable, mainly because it's electric. There's not much that can go wrong with it."
In terms of range, the 2016 Leaf beats his old Leaf, which manages only about 85 miles per charge. He
said he has friends driving the latest Leaf who regularly manage in excess of 120 miles a charge, a bit
higher than the advertised range.
"The only gotcha (with the rebate) is the short time" through March 31, Jenson said.
This report includes information from the Boulder, Colo., Daily Camera.
3/4
3/10/2016 Main
rail
Lei f
J ti
Through the end of March, Drive Electric Minnesota is offering vouchers good for a big discount on the
Nissan Leaf, above, at Kline Nissan in Maplewood. The deal applies only to a particular version of the
2016 Leaf, called the SV. COURTESY PHOTO
Thursday,03'10/2016 Peg.A01 Copyright'2016,Si.P-I Pi—r Pros,3/LO/2016
4/4