Automakers Are Throwing Incentives at EVs to Drive Sales

Key Points

• Now that the federal electric vehicle tax credit has ended, automakers are enticing customers with major incentives on EVs.
• If you shop smart enough, you can score an EV with thousands off the sticker price.

If you were hoping to use the federal EV tax credit to help with the price of a new EV, we’re sad to report that you’re out of luck, as the tax credit ended Sept. 30. We’ve now entered a new era where EVs have to make a case to customers on merits alone, just like any other vehicle. 

Related: The EV Tax Credit Is Done; What Should an EV Shopper Do Now?

Automakers don’t seem willing to wait around for that to happen, though. As a result of the end of the tax credit, EV sales were horrible in October. Automakers that release monthly sales data (some stick to quarterly and annual results) saw double-digit declines for their EVs. The hardest hit were Hyundai-Kia and Honda. Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 saw a 63% sales decline, and the Ioniq 6 saw a 52% sales dip. Kia was in worse shape, with the EV6 falling 71% and the three-row EV9 66%. Honda’s Prologue saw the worst drop, with a nearly 81% sales decline. 

To make up for these declines, automakers are sweetening the deal for buyers through cash incentives. Note that incentives may not be available in all regions, so you should confirm these deals with your local dealership.

Premium Automakers Have the Largest Incentives Right Now

Key Takeaway: Luxury brands, such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, are offering huge incentives on their EVs. 

If you’ve got a bit more leeway in what you can spend on a new EV, you may want to take a look at some luxury brands. We’ve found that some of the more premium brands have incentives north of $10,000 on select models. 

You’ll find the largest of these incentives at Mercedes-Benz. The luxury brand is offering one of the largest vehicle incentives we’ve ever seen. If you’re in the market for an EQS SUV, the automaker is offering up to $50,000 in dealer cash for purchases and leases. 

Polestar is next. While not as massive as Mercedes’ incentive, the Chinese-owned Swedish brand is offering a still-not-bad $18,000 incentive on its 2025 Polestar 3 through Dec. 1. Called the Clean Vehicle Incentive, it can be used toward the lease of a 3 SUV and “will be applied to the lease as a Capitalized Cost Reduction,” which is just a fancy way of saying that the $18,000 will be a discount on the final price. 

Vinfast, the EV maker you probably forgot about, is currently offering up to a $13,600 incentive on its three-row VF 9 SUV through Nov. 30. You can find up to another $12,200 incentive on the slightly smaller VF 8. Additionally, BMW is offering an equally large $12,000 off a lease for its controversially styled 2025 iX SUV; the deal is available through Dec. 1. 

Lucid is offering major incentives on its Air sedan through Nov. 30, as well. The luxury automaker is throwing in $7,500 when you buy an Air, plus 0.99% financing for 72 months, a replacement for the tax credit that Lucid is calling “Air Credits.” It is also offering up to $15,000 in lease cash.

An outlier to these high incentives is Kia. The brand may have seen the writing on the wall with how its EVs sold in October. In response, Kia is coming in hard with the incentives, throwing $10,000 at every EV it sells through Dec. 1, from the compact Niro EV to the EV6 and EV9. 

Not All Automakers Are Being as Generous

Key Takeaway: While there are thousands of dollars in incentives to be had for some brands and models, other brands’ incentives aren’t as sweet. 

There are plenty of other brands that have incentives available, with the majority for under $10,000. However, there are more than a few brands that are a bit stingier with the cash they’re throwing on the hood — we’re talking incentives that are $5,000 or less. The Cadillac Escalade IQ, Genesis GV60, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Volvo EX90 and Honda Prologue all have $5,000 incentives available. 

If you’re in the market for Volkswagen’s retro-styled ID. Buzz, you’ll find the brand is offering just $2,500 cash for the electric van or 3.9% financing for 60 months. It’s the same situation at Chevrolet with its Equinox EV, which has up to $3,000 in customer cash. In some areas, Chevy is offering customer cash for the Blazer EV, ranging from $3,500 for a 2025 model to $11,000 for a 2024.

You’re also out of luck if you were hoping for a big incentive from Cadillac on anything other than the Escalade IQ. You’ll find up to just $2,500 in bonus cash on the Optiq, Vistiq and Lyriq EVs. 

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Important Details to Remember

Key Takeaway: Many of these incentives come with certain stipulations that must be met before you can use them toward the price of the EV.

If any of these offers look good enough for you to drop what you’re doing and run down to the dealership, hold your horses. There are certain conditions that need to be met before these automakers will just give you a discount on these EVs. 

Some automakers have what are called loyalty or conquest offers, and these are incentives that are only available to buyers who own competing vehicles. For instance, Honda offers a $3,300 loyalty incentive in certain areas on a lease for the Prologue, but it’s only available to current owners of other brands like Hyundai and Dodge, etc. Basically, you make the switch, you get the cash. 

It’s also important to remember that many of these incentives are tied to low-mileage lease deals. For instance, Genesis offers that aforementioned $5,000 incentive on the GV60 that can be used on a special lease deal of $609 a month for 33 months. But in the fine print of that deal, you’ll see the mileage limit is just 10,000 annually. So while you may get a great deal on the GV60, the mileage limit is so low that the vehicle will spend most of those 33 months either relegated to second-car duty or sitting in your driveway. So make sure to check the fine print of appealing deals to see if the restrictions work for you. 

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