Something "unprecedented" is occurring with car sales right now, and auto dealerships around the country are reporting a major trend.
As the Wall Street Journal observed, electric vehicles are flying off the lots in record numbers.
Federal tax incentives for drivers of cleaner vehicles in the United States began in earnest under President Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010, with a goal of putting a million plug-in hybrids or EVs on the road by 2015.
Utilities were among early advocates of federal incentives, appealing to Congress to extend the credits in 2018.
Earlier this year, several federal tax credits and incentives designed to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles were slashed, slated to expire at the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
During the summer, EV sales were expected to surge as drivers pursued the sunsetting credits. But the Wall Street Journal's coverage of the current electric car sales spike seemed to indicate buyers weren't solely there for the deals.
At 80, John McCabe is a retired doctor, current EV owner, and powers his home with solar panels. He said he'd intended to purchase a vehicle and decided to take advantage of the remaining credits.
"We were going to buy one anyway," McCabe told the Journal. "As long as we're going to do it, you might as well get it done before the incentives disappear."
Colt Emich is a general manager at Emich Kia, a "fourth-generation" car salesman who likely grew up around auto sales shop talk. Emich told the paper that his family had a gauge for lease deals: a monthly payment equivalent to 1% of the car's sticker price was "as good as it gets."
However, Emich was pleasantly surprised to see his family's general rule disproved, as well as by the sales numbers at his dealership.
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Definitely 👍 Referring to monthly lease payments under that 1% threshold, he said: "These EVs have just absolutely crushed that. It's a small portion of a percentage. It's just unprecedented."
Greg Scolnick, 55, purchased an all-electric compact Volvo SUV crossover last year, but a $39 monthly lease payment on a Volkswagen ID.4 SUV lured him back to the dealership.
As the Journal pointed out, shockingly low lease deals have enabled young drivers who would have otherwise been unable to afford one to make their next car an EV.
But like McCabe, current EV owners and drivers have been "enticed" to upgrade or get a second car. Car salespeople, such as Markus Kamm of Tynan's Nissan, were skeptical that lease payments could dip below $40 a month in the future.
"We may never see this level of deal again," Kamm said.
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