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Looking for a great deal on an electric vehicle? Now is your chance to score a leftover 2019 model year EV.
Despite the cheerleading from electric vehicle advocacy websites, the fact is electric vehicle sales have been declining now in America for well over a year. Don’t take our word for it. Go to Inside EVs and look at the data yourself. EV sales in the U.S. declined from about 361K in 2018 to about 330K in 2019.
Many models that were once the hottest-selling EVs in America declined. The Nissan Leaf declined in sales. The Chevy Bolt declined in sales. The BMW i3 declined in sales. The result of this steady drop in EV sales is that there are presently new 2019 electric vehicles still on sale. And some dealers already prefer not to sell EVs. At least as far as the posts on EV-related social media pages would have us believe. With 2019s still stinking up the joint, dealers may be ready to unload these doorstops with huge discounts.
A new study of available dealer inventory by iSeeCars reveals that the EV segment is the one with the most leftover unsold 2019 model year vehicles. Hybrids, by contrast, are the lowest segment in terms of leftovers.
It isn’t green cars that are slowing down. The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has had a waiting list of buyers for over a year. It’s the EVs. Fewer and fewer buyers shopping in the sub-$30K cost range (after incentives) are opting for an EV. By all indications, they are moving to green crossovers and cars with hybrid technology instead.
The EV model with the most leftover 2019s is the Nissan LEAF, with 46.5 percent of its new car inventory remaining from 2019. “The LEAF’s competitors, namely the Chevrolet Bolt EV surpassed it in range, and it has declined in popularity as a result,” said Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars.com.
Surprisingly, two new for 2019 electric vehicles also make this list. The Hyundai Kona EV and the Jaguar iPace. “The Hyundai Kona EV struggled to keep up with demand in key markets in the U.S. in the beginning of the year, which could have led to an increase in production,” said Ly. “The Jaguar I-Pace did not sell as many vehicles as anticipated and supply far exceeded demand.”
Ly concludes, “It’s important that consumers be aware that 2019 new vehicles are still for sale and can be found with significant savings off the sticker price. Consumers who want a good deal on a new car should consider these vehicles and specifically the models on these lists because dealers want to push their 2019 models off the lot and will be more open to negotiation.”
To find out what dealer discounts looked like in our area, we checked out the DriveGreen website. Drivegreen works with new car dealers to post the best deals on EVs in the New England area. After dealer discounts and incentives, new Bolts are costing consumers under $22K in Mass. New Kona EVs are costing under $27K.
If you are shopping for a new EV, tell us what deals you are finding on leftover 2019s.
John Goreham is a life-long car nut and recovering engineer. John’s focus areas are technology, safety, and green vehicles. In the 1990s, he was part of a team that built a solar-electric vehicle from scratch. His was the role of battery thermal control designer. For 20 years he applied his engineering and sales talents in the high tech world and published numerous articles in technical journals such as Chemical Processing Magazine. In 2008 he retired from that career to chase his dream of being an auto writer. In addition to Torque News, John’s work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin